The Cursed Duelist
by kazikamikaze24
Summary: There is a duelist who is known to inflict real injuries amongst his opponents. His reputation has left many duelists in the hospitals and their cards his to do with as he pleases. He seeks to simply be the best with the only person that cares for him, and their goal is to be the King of Games. He is the Cursed Duelist, and he is heading to Duel Academy.
1. Chapter 1

_Tears had stained the desk he laid over. Tears that fell due to his friend Osamu being in the hospital due to a duel they had. He wanted to win with his favorite card so badly. A card given to him by his father. A card that was more than just cardboard. It was his friend. She was his friend. His best friend, and he lost before he was able to summon her to the field. He should have been...what was the word his parents used...mature? Yes! He should have been mature about the duel, but he wanted to win so badly!_

_"Now...Now the kids around the neighborhood won't duel me!" He looked up from the desk, staring at the deck he scattered across him hours ago. His parents weren't home, as usual, so he had no one else to comfort him right now. To tell him that everything would be better after a trip to the hospital to apologize, or to take him out and buy him a few booster packs of Duel Monster cards to make him happy. No, he was all alone, as he normally was._

_"Jaden." A soft, comforting voice called out to him. He straightened himself and turned to see a tall, floating girl with long, spiky hair with purple skin. The right side of her hair was silver, whereas the left was purple, and the line between the two were separated by a large, yellow eye with a red iris. She had two colored eyes, with the right being orange and the left being green, and had two large, black wings with talons at the very tip. He didn't know how to describe the shape of her body, but knew that she had beauty within her. Something about her drew him to her, and made her so special to him._

_"Yubel..." He stood up and clung to her body with renewed tears. She placed her hands upon his back and began to rub it, enacting a warmth that only she could provide. "Why...Why don't the other kids trust me anymore? Why are they so afraid of me? They wouldn't be afraid if I was Seto Kaiba or Yugi Muto wanting to duel them, but they're terrified! I hate this!"_

_"Shhh...Shhh...It's okay Jaden. They're simply playing a different game with you." Jaden looked up at her with blurred sight. A different kind of game? Why did it hurt so badly if it was a game then?_

_"Why...Why play-"_

_"The game they're playing is to crush your potential as the best duelist in the world. The next King of Games Jaden!" Yubel shouted, making him flinch. This flinch made her widen her eyes and pulled him in for a hug. This was her way of apologizing. A way that he enjoyed feeling each and every time. "They know that you're a smart duelist. They also know that your parents spoil you with cards from across the world, and don't want to lose to you, so they want to make you lose interest in Duel Monsters and hope that you won't ever play them again."_

_"Those no good losers!" Jaden stomped his foot in anger. Why would they play a mean game like that? He loved duel monsters! He even gave kids cards to help them get into the game, and this was how they repaid him? "Well I simply won't duel them anymore Yubel!" He nodded to himself. "There are plenty of kids in school, and the local park has kids from different schools I can duel against too. They won't keep me from getting my game on!" Yubel smiled at him as she began to rub his back once more._

_"That's a good idea honey, but..." Yubel lowered herself to her knees so they were at even eye level. "Do you want to hear a better idea?" Jaden nodded his head. Yubel was one of the smartest people he knew, so any idea she had was worth listening to. "I think you should make those losers duel you and win their cards. Their rarest, the most powerful cards they have, or even a card you like for an effect or its design. There is no need to be picky."_

_"But...Why would I duel against the people who don't want me to duel anymore? That doesn't make sense." A chuckle escaped her lips, causing him to pout. "What? It doesn't!"_

_"It's nothing. I forget how young you are my Jaden." A soft sigh came from her. Was she making fun of him again? He wasn't that young! "You would duel them to gain a reputation Jaden. A reputation like the King of Games or what Seto Kaiba have amongst the other kids. A reputation that will make you one of the best duelist in the city, and soon the world. Your goal_ is _to become the best duelist right?"_

_"Yea! I want to become the next King of Games Yubel! You know that!"_

_"I know Jaden. I certainly know that, but if we want to become the next King of Games we need to work on your deck, okay?" Jaden nodded, knowing that his deck wasn't much of anything but his favorite cards at the moment. He liked cute cards, such as **Beaver Warrior** and Yubel, and cool, awesome cards like **Elemental Hero Avian**, **Elemental Hero Burstinatrix**, or Yubel. Yubel had introduced him to cards like The Warrior Returning Alive to try making better use of monsters in the graveyard, but he was still learning how to create the perfect deck he would like to use. "So...Do you trust me Jaden?"_

_"Of course I do Yubel!" He shouted with a furious nod. "You're my best friend!" Yubel smiled and looked at his eyes. He felt a sharp pain in both of his shoulders, and heard distorted cries from behind him. What was happening? Why was he in pain?_

_"Then...**trust me**!"_

**_"AAAAHHHHH!"_**

"AHA!" The teenager known as Jaden Yuki shot up from his bed with sweat dripping from his body. It took a few minutes, but his breathing became regular, and he found his eyes locked on the deck-box that slept on the edge of his dresser. It was the deck that she, Yubel, slept in, and he had no problem leaving her there as he got out of bed and went to take a shower. It didn't matter how far he could go, from the other side of the house or to the other end of the world.

Yubel would always be by his side.

That would never change.

_'That dream though...I haven't had it in years.'_ That dream was when his life had changed for him. His friend, Osamu, was the only person from that time who stayed by his side after he got released from the hospital from that fateful duel. Though they would talk about Duel Monsters and would watch duel videos together, they never dueled one another after that day for a reason Jaden knew, despite it never being said. Osamu was afraid of him, and that helped him and Yubel seek out other duelists who began to spread lies about him. Lies about him being cursed and would always destroy whoever dueled him no matter the outcome of the duel. They weren't true, but they did eventually lead up to the title he was given amongst the community.

The Cursed Duelist. A duelist so powerful that duels came to life. Some said that he was marked by the Egyptian Gods to give them souls so they may become free from Yugi Muto's control. Others said that he bought the deck from a yard sale from an old man with a blind right eye and never saw the old man again. The rumors were silly, and most of them never made sense to him, but they didn't stop him from dueling with an ante against those he dueled. Rare, powerful cards such as the light purple **Dark Magician** card or** Raigeki** were only a few of the most powerful cards he had at his disposal form the ante duels he has been playing for years, and he had a feeling that his collection wouldn't stop growing.

That didn't mean that dueling was the only thing he focused on. Due to Yubel wanting him to be the very best human, he excelled in everything he could get his hands on. In terms of his education he topped mathematics, literature, was physically fit enough to last in a street fight without Yubel stepping in, and knew multiple languages. English was his favorite foreign language, but French and Italian had a certain charm he liked about them. He kept up on the world of politics and the most important news articles to seek any opportunity to show the world the power of his and Yubel's trust in one another.

His room was littered with the trophies, ribbons, and other forms of prizes that he collected over the years. His parents, who were still as busy as they were years ago, didn't know anything about the darker side of the duels he played in. They knew of his official duels at tournaments and such, which they were very proud of him, and would reward him with fried shrimp each and every time he won. Yet another reason for him to win those tournaments.

If he didn't win, then Yubel would punish him for not winning in the best ways she knew would work. Most of his key monsters would suddenly disappear, leaving him with only a third of his deck to use, which meant he would have to play with a sub-par deck he always kept on reserve. She would plague him with nightmares of nerve destroying pain like the which he would never wish upon anyone. Nightmares of Osamu dying in front of him. His parents being killed by crowds of angry parents. People beating him for the sake of showing their superiority.

It was only a fraction of what Yubel could actually do to him, and the reason he knew she could do those specific things was because she had already showed him those nightmares on separate occasions. It was why he had to stay the very best amongst the other students. If he didn't, then she would get to "educate" him again. Despite being thankful for all she done for him, it did nothing to stop him from subtly testing the limits between their bond to one another.

For example, when the deck-box was sealed tight, Yubel couldn't leave it as long as her card was in the deck. This allowed him to sleep without her influence and do daily actions without her adding in her opinion. She could send him mental thoughts if the deck-box was on his hip since it was attached to him at that point, but she couldn't interact with the physical world as long as she was in the deck-box. When she was free from it, then the chains were released, and her true power could be used without restraint. Well...without the normal restraints of course. He didn't want to think of...

"Ah, that's right, I need to leave." With a quiet mumble to himself, Jaden stepped out of the shower and looked at himself in the mirror. His brown, shoulder length hair was its normal messy fluff that refused to be tamed by any brush, He was thinner than most guys his age, and his pale skin made him stand out more than he would have liked. He put on the best clothes he could for Yubel's sake (a black short sleeve shirt with spikes that represented the ones upon Yubel's shoulders, and a pair of black and grey pants with spikes along his legs), and quickly brushed his teeth before getting the rest of his stuff ready. With his shoes on, duel disk bound on his left arm, and a small shoulder bag filled with random items prepared, he grabbed his deck-box and opened the seal.

"Good morning to you sunshine..." Yubel appeared in a transparent haze before him with a yawn and a stretch of her figure. Her wings stretched as well, but Jaden had to bend away from her before the right wing clipped his head. "So, my little champion, are you ready to show those examiners what we're made of?" He flicked his nose with his thumb and smirked at her.

"You know I am Yubel. I'm ready to get into Duel Academy and show the world what we're made of on a grand scale!" Everyone in the world knew of Duel Academy, created by Seto Kaiba to ensure that the game Duel Monsters stayed a hit and would prosper for years to come. If you graduated from the school, you were ensured at least several contract offers for promotion across the globe, and that was if you were on the Slifer Red level. The lowest of the low! Who knows what type of recognition could be obtained from graduation if he was a Ra Yellow or an Obelisk Blue?

"So, what are we waiting for?" The two said in unison. With that, Yubel disappeared, allowing Jaden to go downstairs for the lunch he prepared for himself last night, and locked the house before jogging to the examination hall that was being used by Duel Academy for today. It was currently 11:24 A.M., which meant that he would be early to get registered and be able to see what his future competition might be like. Heck, he might even be able to duel against an examiner with a reputation instead of some run of the mill duelist.

_'Wait! What is this?'_ Jaden paused, glancing around the park he stopped in, and _inhaled_. The amount of duel energy within this park was astronomical! It was enriched by someone who must be a seasoned duelist. Maybe even a tournament winner! The cards within that duelist's deck must be powerful, and the duel itself would be amazing...

_'No Jaden.'_ Yubel's voice cut through his thoughts. Damn, he forgot that she was currently on his hip at the moment. _'You have better things to worry about than someone who might be long gone right now. Plus, think of all the other duelists who will sustain our hunger for duel energy on the island? That will be a feast for kings!'_

_'Yea Yea...Still, couldn't we at least see who the guy is?'_

_'No.'_

_'You're no fun.'_

* * *

Getting to the examination building early didn't reward him with an early spot for dueling. Apparently there was a long list for duels already lined up, which made no sense to him. He figured that rich kids in the area reserved the opening positions, but didn't care enough to let it ruin his mood. Instead, he sat on one of the bleachers and watched the other candidates duel.

To be honest, most of them weren't even worth his time.

Those who won their duels rather quickly barely put out any duel energy for him and Yubel to passively consume. They used some interesting cards to win, but nothing that struck him as something to claim as his own. There were a series of duels that were pitiful and weren't worth watching in the slightest. If they somehow passed the exam, they would become Slifer Reds for sure. Nothing was note worthy to him. Was everything he heard about from Duel Academy one big lie? Was the school funded by Seto Kaiba a waste of his time?

"Ah, I haven't seen you duel yet." Jaden looked up to see a duelist with short, black hair behind him, and nodded to him. He was one of the few duelists to finish some time ago with a **Ring of Destruction** to end the duel between him and his examiner. "My name is Bastion Misawa, and you are?"

"Jaden Yuki. You play an interesting style." Bastion snickered as he took a seat next to him. The duel energy he produced was interesting, though what caught Jaden's attention were the two smaller streams of duel energy that flowed from Bastion's waistline.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I assure you that it wasn't my best." As if Bastion could sense the flow of duel energy, he moved his hands to the source of the alternate streams of duel energy, and pulled out two deck boxes. "I didn't know what to expect today, so I brought with me two additional decks with their own personal formulas for success. I'm kinda hoping to test them against some of the duelists from the Academy that are watching the new recruits, such as the Kaiser."

"The Kaiser?" Bastion nudged his shoulder to the left, making Jaden turn to see a tall, pale teen with long, dark blue hair wearing an Obelisk blue uniform. He looked at the duels in boredom, unlike the blonde girl who held an interest. The two seemed to be talking amongst themselves, but Jaden stopped caring for that moments after. The sheer amount of duel energy coming from the Kaiser made Yubel stir from his deck-box, and he couldn't blame her. How delicious that duel energy must be!

"I take you have never heard of the Kaiser Ryo? He is considered to be the elite of the elite duelists at Duel Academy. To be able to duel him you must be able to defeat the best of Duel Academy, and I've heard that the one who runs the Obelisk Blue dorms is picky about who gets to duel those elite. I've also heard that the guy who runs the Obelisk dorm hates Slifer Reds, so if you end up as one, then you should wait until you've risen to the Ra Yellow dorm to start dueling those elite." Jaden returned his attention to Bastion and raised an eyebrow. Was he assuming that he, Jaden Yuki, was going to become a bottom of the barrel Slifer?

"Sounds like you think I'm going to become a Slifer Bastion." Bastion's eyes became extremely wide as he shook his head.

"No, not at all! I mean, I didn't mean to make that assumption!" Bastion coughed into a fist to collect himself. Before he could continue talking a short teen with long, light blue hair that spiked outwards instead of going down, and wore small glasses slumped over a chair next to Jaden. The teen looked exhausted, and Jaden recognized him as one of the duelists who barely won his examination.

"They're not pulling any punches in these examinations are they?" Jaden chuckled at the question, which was matched by Bastion. This seemed to catch the blue haired teen's attention, for he straightened himself and looked at them. "Not to mean that they were too tough! I was caught unaware at the level of decks they would use for the examination is all..."

"No need to freak dude." Jaden replied with a wave of his hand. This stopped the blue haired teen from speaking any further, and made him relax from the looks of it. "I didn't get much of a chance to see what you were playing. Something with machines right?"

"Yea!" The teen smiled and rubbed his duel disk. "I play a Vehicroid deck, though I'm missing some of the key cards to really make it _run_. Heh, get it, _run_, because my deck is based on vehicles that-"

"We get it." Jaden and Bastion said at the same time, causing all three of them to snicker. The blue haired teen brought out his right hand to Jaden.

"My name is Syrus. Syrus Truesdale, and you are?"

"Jaden Yuki."

"Bastion Misawa, but did you say your name was Syrus Truesdale?"

* * *

Unknowingly to Jaden and the two duelists he was talking with, a small group of teachers were surrounding the one in charge of this examination. He was Dr. Crowler, an individual many couldn't agree on. Some call him Mrs. Crowler due to him wearing his blond hair in a pig-tail, wore crescent earrings, and had lipstick, whereas others think he is the worst teacher due to his strict nature with anyone who wasn't an Obelisk Blue. There were many things said about Dr. Crowler, but students from all three dorms knew of the Dark Age deck known as the Ancient Gears that he used.

"Are we close to finishing this examination up everyone? I don't want to stay near these rifraff any longer than I absolutely must!" One of the teachers, a new assistant teacher if Dr. Crowler remembered the staff meeting clearly, flipped through their clipboard and froze at the last document. "Yes? What is the hold up!" The assistant took a step back and handed him the clipboard.

"The last applicant, number one-one-zero Jaden Yuki, is a local legend in this city Dr. Crowler." This caused him to pause and turned to the assistant. She looked as if she had seen a ghost, or woke up from a nightmare.

"A local legend you say? Can you tell me more about this hotshot?"

"He," the assistant gulped and shook her head, "he is known as the Cursed Duelist due to various reasons sir. He can bring the damage inflicted in duels to life, and is known to duel in unofficial duels with an ante rule in place." Dr. Crowler scoffed at what he was told. The Cursed Duelist? More like some ruffian who probably stole the cards he used to get here. He wouldn't let such people step upon the high class school known as Duel Academy if he could prevent it! As he stood up, one of the other teachers turned to him with a box of test decks they were supplied to use against the applicants.

"Sir? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to duel this last student myself." This statement made the other teachers take a step back in shock and looked at the clipboard that was handed back to the assistant.

"But sir, what about the test decks?"

"I'll handle that myself."

"Sir." This time it was the assistant who spoke up. Dr. Crowler turned to her and saw her stare at him with a lost expression. "Please don't take what I said lightly. One of the kids he hurt was my younger brother, and he hasn't been the same since he woke up in the hospital from that duel he lost. So, please sir... Show no mercy." Dr. Crowler smirked at her.

"I'm a doctor dear. We don't show mercy to our patients!"

* * *

"Will applicant number one hundred and ten report to the main duel field? I repeat! Will applicant number one hundred and ten report to the main duel field?" Jaden stood up with a smile upon his face.

"Alright guys, that's my call!" Jaden did a flip to get behind Syrus and Bastion, making the two stare at him with widened eyes. He imagined it wasn't normal for any duelist to be physically fit, but then again when was Jaden Yuki ever normal? "I'll be seeing you two at Duel Academy!" As he walked away, he heard Bastion ask Syrus for his last name again, but that was quickly forgotten since it was now his time to shine! He would be dueling against some examiner and proceed to enter Duel Academy to become the most powerful duelist in the world. The next King of Games!

_'Remember Jaden,'_ Yubel spoke to him, _'Don't use everything at your disposal if you can help it. We want to keep our best plays secret until we absolutely have to use them, and I refuse to be fully displayed to anyone but the best Jaden dearest.'_

_'I know Yubel...I know.'_ Jaden, after a few minutes of getting lost, found his way to the dueling field where his examiner seemed to be waiting for him. His examiner was tall with short blond hair that stopped around his eyebrows, but had a long ponytail tied behind him. He wore an Obelisk Blue affiliated uniform with a Duel Coat, a very expensive item which had the duel disk on the front of the body and had sensors to detect when a duelist was ready to start their turn, and had crescent earrings.

To be completely honest, Jaden didn't know if his examiner was really good, or the academy's mascot that they put up against who they thought would be the weakest duelist. The very thought of him, Jaden Yuki, being considered weak annoyed him to the core, and made him want to get started right away. When he got close enough to the examiner, the examiner began to talk.

"Welcome to the arena Jaden Yuki. I was unaware that we had a celebrity amongst the recruits!" This made Jaden stare at the man with interest. Did he do some research on the applicants, or did he just find out through passing? Jaden could hear the other applicants talking amongst each other, and he couldn't help but to smirk at the man in front of him.

"I take it you've heard of me then?"

"Yes," The man nodded, "The...Cursed Duelist was it not?" It was then that he grabbed his deck and slid it into the Duel Coat. A nasty, furious expression came from the examiner. An expression that Jaden had seen hundreds of other times. "I'm appalled that someone like you, a thief and a ruffian, would DARE try and grace Duel Academy with your filth! Stealing cards from other duelists, beating them up if they refuse to duel you, and-"

"Woah, hold the phone there ugly!"

"U-U-UGLY!" The man interrupted with a shout. If Jaden didn't know any better, a bolt of lightning struck the ground behind the man. "I am _not_ ugly!"

"And I'm not a ruffian, a thief, or a bully, but you don't see me shouting like some sissy!"

"You certainly lack manners, and I, Dr. Crowler, will be the one to give you a lesson in how to treat your betters with respect you ruffian!" Jaden activated his duel disk, and a series of disgusting sounds was made, either from the crowd or from his duel disk, as it unfolded itself. The center of the duel disk was blue with the eye of Horus looking straight at Dr. Crowler, who shivered at the sight. The duel disk itself was mostly brown with purple flesh connecting everything together and each card slot, which was in the shape of a bat wing, was separated by talons. With the graveyard being a black void with teeth surrounding it, the deck slot being guarded by two talons, and a red glowing orb near the eye of Horus, some could easily say that Jaden's duel disk was...alive.

"You're so mean doctor." Jaden playfully said as he drew his opening hand, and smiled at Dr. Crowler. "I'll just have to change your view of me...with pain!"

"Lets Duel!"

Jaden: 4000 Dr. Crowler: 4000

"I'll start things off if you don't mind!" With a sixth card in hand, Jaden glanced at Dr. Crowler before activating a card. "I hope you're not too attached to your hand, because I activate the spell card **Hand Destruction**!" A small, orange samurai wearing silver armor appeared and slashed at the ground around Dr. Crowler, making the man jump away from the swings. Fortunately for him, there was no damage to the field around him.

"Heh, no damage was done to the ground you ruffian. So the rumor about you bringing damage to life is nothing but a hoax!" Jaden picked the two cards he wanted and sent them into his graveyard, showing that he either didn't care for what Dr. Crowler said, or didn't listen to him.

"Each player sends two cards from their hand to the graveyard, then we each draw two cards from the deck. Whenever you're done wasting my time, I'll continue with my turn."

"Ugh!" Dr. Crowler groaned as he picked two cards and forced them into his graveyard. As they drew their new cards, the blond glared at Jaden. "I wasn't attached to anything, and neither will your reputation be attached to you after I make quick work of you!"

"All that bark, but I doubt you can match it with your bite. Regardless, I set a monster and a card before ending my turn."

"Pfh, that's what you call a turn? Some dumped cards and some set cards? You're certainly not that menacing! Draw!" Dr. Crowler drew his card and grinned. "And now I'll start things up by-"

"Actually, I'm activating my trap card **Reckless Greed**!" A purple card of some greedy man preparing to jump into a treasure chest with a snake slithering through it appeared on Jaden's side. "In exchange of skipping my next two draw phases, I get to draw two cards right now." With two new cards joining Jaden's hand, he waved to his opponent. "You can continue now."

"Why I never! UGH!" Dr. Crowler stomped on the ground before setting two cards. "I now activate **Heavy Storm**, destroying my two **Statue of the Wicked** cards!" A giant whirlwind destroyed Dr. Crowler's cards, and in their place two yellow serpents with four red eyes and wore odd jewelery appeared on his side of the field.

2x Wicked Token (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 4/ Atk-1000 Def-1000)

"However, they won't be staying on my side of the field for long as I'll be using them as tributes for my legendary **Ancient Gear Golem**!" A gigantic, armored humanoid automaton appeared in front of the doctor with an emotionless stare focused on Jaden's set monster.

**Ancient Gear Golem** (Machine Type/Earth/Level 8/ Atk-3000 Def-3000)

"Now I'll attack your set monster with Mechanized Melee!" **Ancient Gear Golem** struck the set monster with its gigantic fist, only for hundreds of white bandages to wrap around the mechanized golem with a bandaged figure wearing brown pants to appear amongst them.

**Grave Squirmer** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 1/ Atk-0 Def-0)

"Since you destroyed my monster, its effect activates." Jaden calmly responded as he pointed at **Ancient Gear Golem**. "Since it was destroyed by battle and will be sent to the graveyard, I can target one card on the field, and destroy it. Obviously, my target shall be your **Ancient Gear Golem**!" Both monsters suddenly disappeared in a swirl of bandages, revealing an empty field to the crowd. This got everyone talking or cheering for one reason or another. Responses that angered Dr. Crowler to the point of his face turning pink.

"E-E-Even so, my **Ancient Gear Golem** has piercing, which means that you're down to a measly 1000 life points, and I'm no where near finished with my turn!"

Jaden: 1000 Dr. Crowler: 4000

"Before I end my turn I shall activate the powerful spell card known as **Monster Reincarnation**, allowing me to send a card to the grave in order to bring my **Ancient Gear Golem** back to my hand!" The mighty golem of technology reappeared by Dr. Crowler's side for a brief moment before disappearing. "In a turn I'll bring back my Ancient Gear monster without any hesitation, so what shall you do now Jaden Yuki? Are you going to hurt me before I defeat you like the ruffian you are?" Dr. Crowler's words made the sense of victory bleak for Jaden from the crowd's perspective. Jaden was sure that, if he was someone watching the duel, they would have little fate in whatever Jaden could do from this point.

Fortunately for him, he knew that this duel was his no matter what.

"Are you done?"

"Grrr, yes!"

"Finally," Jaden said impassively, "since I activated **Reckless Greed**, I must skip my draw phase, but that is no problem. I'll set two cards and end my turn." Dr. Crowler laughed as he drew his card for the turn. This was the ruffian that obtained the title of Cursed Duelist in this city? This was the scum that frightened the assistant? This boy was nothing compared to him!

"You're nothing but a waste of space Jaden Yuki, and I'll prove that by defeating you here and now!" With a new card in hand, he could proceed further. I'll now activate the spell card known as **Double Summon**, which allows me to normal summon twice this turn! I summon the ancient technology known as **Chronomaly Mayan Machine** (Machine Type/Earth/Level 3/ Atk-1500 Def-700), and use it to summon **Ancient Gear Golem **since it acts as two tributes for Machine Type monsters! Now, **Ancient Gear Golem**-"

"I activate **Call of the Haunted**, allowing me to special summon **Yubel** from my graveyard to the field!" Yubel, his best friend, most trusted person, and guardian, appeared on his side of the field without delay. She smirked at Dr. Crowler as she stood right in front of Jaden, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

**Yubel** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 10/ Atk-0 Def-0)

"Hahahaha!" Dr. Crowler laughed, as did a small amount of the crowd. Jaden understood why they would laugh. They weren't the first to laugh at the presence of Yubel due to them being...uneducated in how she worked. They would learn though. They would all learn not to underestimate her!

_'And Dr. Crowler would be the first to learn this lesson.'_ "What's so funny you asylum patient?" Silence reigned the room as Jaden's words took time for everyone to digest. Dr. Crowler was the first to get over the pure shock that took him, and anger fueled him to get rid of this punk from his sight. The sudden boom of laughter from most of the audience didn't help his decision either.

"Your weak monster won't help you, especially with its zero attack! Go, my **Ancient Gear Golem**, show him what a TRUE monster looks like with your mechanized melee!" Jaden did nothing but smirk, an action Yubel mirrored, as she took the punch to her body. In that instant, Dr. Crowler gasped and fell upon his knees with his arms wrapped around his ribcage. The sheer shock of pain Dr. Crowler must have felt pleased Jaden more than it should, but it felt oh so right to see.

"Confused?" Jaden asked as the sound of life points depleting occurred. "Yubel can't be destroyed by battle, nor do I take battle damage with her. While she is in attack position, you take any battle damage I would have taken equal to your monster's attack, and with **Ancient Gear Golem** having three thousand attack, we're now back on equal footing aren't we?"

Jaden: 1000 Dr. Crowler: 1000

"What...Did you do to me...You barbaric ruffian!"

"I did nothing Dr. Crowler. You can thank yourself for blindly attacking into Yubel like that. Not me. Now then, do you end your turn?" Jaden watched in hidden glee as Dr. Crowler struggled to stand. Though the blond did eventually stand, he looked exhausted and seemed drained of the anger he had moments ago. Was it now replaced by fear, or perhaps caution? What could Dr. Crowler be thinking with Yubel now in front of him?

The possibilities excited him!

"Since you haven't done anything, I assume that it is my turn, and skip my second draw phase, meaning that after this turn I can draw from my deck again. Not that matters since I activate **Pot of Greed**!" A gigantic green pot with a smiling face on its side appeared, and laughed as Jaden drew two additional cards from his deck. Jaden glanced down at the cards he drew, and simply nodded at the results. "I normal summon **Sangan** in attack mode, set one card, and end my turn." As the small, three eyed monster appeared on Jaden's side of the field, Yubel picked it up and transformed it into a sphere of duel energy before swallowing it whole. Many disgusted sounds came from the crowd, but Jaden ignored them in preference to keep his attention on Dr. Crowler. The blond glared at Yubel for a moment before facing him.

"In order for your monster to stay on the field, you must tribute a monster each of your turns, don't you?" Jaden smirked as he slid **Sangan** to his graveyard. At least Dr. Crowler could be smart...at times.

"Correct, but this instance is helpful since **Sangan's** effect activates, allowing me to add a monster with 1500 or less attack from my deck to my hand before my turn officially ends." Dr. Crowler said nothing as he drew his card, which was the perfect time to activate the card that would seal the doctor's fate this duel. "Since your draw phase is ending and we're entering your standby phase, I can activate the trap card known as **Battle Mania**!"

"N-No!" Dr. Crowler shouted as an aura of fire consumed **Ancient Gear Golem**, making it slap its chest in pride. Jaden, who knew what was going to happen, laughed and proceeded to explain what the card did, if only to see the despair form on Dr. Crowler's face.

"All face up monsters you control Dr. Crowler are changed to attack position, and can't change their battle positions this turn. Also, all monsters you currently control must attack this turn, if able. So, Dr. Crowler, can you suddenly not attack, or is this my win?" As Dr. Crowler looked down, Jaden's smirk grew at the sight of a defeated man right before his very eyes. At least, until he realized that Dr. Crowler had slipped a card into his duel disk and the sound of a card activating caught his attention.

"You won't win this duel Jaden Yuki! I activate **Dark Hole**, which destroys all monsters on the field!"

"Jaden!" Yubel shouted as she and **Ancient Gear Golem** became consumed by the void. Jaden said nothing as he placed Yubel in the grave, and watched as Dr. Crowler grinned like a madman at him.

"You lose, Jaden Yuki, and here is how you lose! I normal summon my **Ancient Gear Knight**!"

**Ancient Gear Knight** (Machine-Gemini Type/Earth/Level 4/ Atk-1800/ Def-500)

A smaller, more soldier-like copy of **Ancient Gear Golem** appeared, though its right hand was replaced by a jousting spear, and the left arm was a metal shield shaped like a spear. Its spear was pointed at Jaden, and its red eye shined to life seconds after Dr. Crowler made a motion with his right hand.

"Attack him and end this duel my **Ancient Gear Knight**!" As the mechanical knight charged forward, Jaden pressed a single button, activating the remaining set card he had, and watched in glee as Yubel suddenly appeared in front of him, taking the spear to her chest. Seconds after her appearance, Dr. Crowler grabbed his chest and fell to the ground once again, causing him to never see the card that made him lose the duel.

**Limit Reverse**.

"Game over." Jaden stated as he watched the holograms of the duel monsters disappear from the field with Yubel being the last of them. With **Limit Reverse** special summoning Yubel back to his side of the field in attack mode during the battle phase, Dr. Crowler's monster had no choice but to attack it, hence the win. Jaden walked over to the fallen Dr. Crowler, who had his hands pressed against his chest, and bent down to look at him. The small trace of blood seeping from the blond's hands made Jaden and Yubel pleased, but Jaden wanted to torment the man just a bit more. As their eyes met, and fear took over Dr. Crowler, Jaden whispered a single phrase to him.

"See you at Duel Academy professor."

-Author Note-

So, what exactly is this story about? This is a story about the what if of Yubel staying with Jaden after the duel with Osamu instead of being sent into space by the Kaiba Corporation, and continued their relationship for years. Though this Yubel wouldn't be corrupted by the Light of Destruction, would their relationship still be healthy, or twisted? What exactly has bled through from the past to the present other than the random moments that Jaden seems like a normal person? I have quite the bit of this story planned, but who knows what exactly will happen when I actually begin typing the chapters out?

Also, for anyone curious to why Yubel's name is only bold in few instances, this is due to Jaden seeing her as more than just a card. You may take that as you wish at the moment.

Either way, will Jaden become a Slifer Red, or will he become placed in a different dorm? What will happen when he and the others make it to Duel Academy? Will Dr. Crowler sustain any serious injuries from this duel? Find out next time on The Cursed Duelist!


	2. Chapter 2

_"W-What do you mean I must attack you?!"_

_"With **Battle Mania** active, monsters you control must attack this turn unless something prevents them. All face up monsters on your side of the field are changed to attack position and can't be changed back for the remainder of this turn." A young Jaden Yuki stared at the older teenager, sixteen most likely, as his **Gaia the Fierce Knight** (2300), **Goblin Attack Force** (2300), and **Command Knight** (1200 atk) were forced into attack mode. With **Command Knight** on the field Warrior-type monsters gained an extra 400 attack, making Gaia's attacking power 2700 and **Command Knight** 1600\. With no set cards on his opponent's side of the field, a hand that was dropped to the ground revealing powerful monsters, and multiple cards set upon Jaden's own field, the match was quickly decided with his ace already upon the field waiting for the onslaught._

_Yubel._

_"Attack, you pathetic monsters!" Jaden shouted, cackling as **Command Knight** swung its blade upon Yubel, making his opponent scream as a gash suddenly appeared upon his right shoulder. **Goblin Attack Force** ran at Yubel with their spiked metal clubs in motion to crush her chest, only for the damage to be placed upon the opponent. The teenager's painful scream was outclassed by the neigh Gaia's steed made when they charged with his red lance primed for Yubel's heart._

_"P-Please no more!" The faint mutter of Jaden's opponent caught his attention for a split moment. The painful expression he wore with the injuries placed upon him would have made any other individual sick upon seeing. If Jaden was anyone else, he may have even fainted without failure or ran off to report the gruesome scene to the authorities. But for him, Jaden Yuki, the nine year old duelist, he simply waved his right hand as a hole exploded upon the teenager's chest, allowing for blood to splatter upon the duel disk as the opponent fell to the ground passed out from the pain._

_"Well that was a boring duel." Jaden muttered as he walked over to his fallen opponent and rummaged through the duel monster cards his opponent had on hand. The deck was themed around Warriors and easy to summon monsters that had high attack, some of which were Fiend monsters like **Goblin Elite Attack Force**, **Invader of Darkness**, and **Skull Archfiend of Lightning**. He took these monsters, as well as other cards that interested him, and stepped on the center of the duel disk, crushing it after a few attempts. Yubel had assured him that, since his duel disk was "unique" that Kaiba Corp couldn't track him, but he would rather be safe than sorry. With that done, he turned around, only to see Yubel standing behind him. "Something wrong Yubel?"_

_"You took too long to defeat him."_

_"I only took ten turns Yubel. You didn't reach my hand in time, so I had to stall with some other monsters. I didn't even touch his life points at all until you came to my hand!" This didn't seem to please Yubel if the frown on her face was any clue. If anything, she appeared even more upset now after hearing what he said._

_"If you really wanted me to your hand you would have called out to me with your entire being and I would have came to you. You simply didn't want me. Is this how you'll begin treating me Jaden? No longer wanting me?" Jaden clung to her waist and quickly shook his head._

_"I always want you Yubel! I'll always treat you the best I can! You're my best friend Yubel!" Yubel, for the first time Jaden could recall, pushed him away and placed her left hand upon his head. The cold, heartless stare she sent his way froze him to the ground._

_"Then you understand why I'm about to do this..."_

_"Yubel?" Jaden asked, unsure of what she meant. She sighed and kissed his forehead before clenching his head **hard**. "OW!"_

_"Then you understand why I'm going to share the pain you put me through Jaden. All because you wanted me to suffer right Jaden?" Before Jaden could say no and tell her how sorry he was, pain encased the little boy and the very essence of pain became his world. His vision was blinded with a red tint. His bones ached with a shivering fear he never felt before. But his chest, the very same spot where **Gaia the Fierce Knight** struck his opponent, left a hole that showed him his own rapidly beating heart. Yubel bent down and kissed his beating heart, making him feel a stinging sensation unlike anything a paper cut ever made him feel._

_"You make me feel all kinds of pain Jaden. Some pains I like, but others make me sad and cry out in misery. I'm using my powers to keep you awake during this moment Jaden." She hugged him, allowing for his tears to cradle down her neck. "I'm glad I can share my pain with you Jaden..."_

Jaden leaned out of his bed with his left hand upon the spot where he saw his own heart beating. That was the first time Yubel had ever shared with him her pain, and it served as the easiest form of torture Yubel could do to him. If she wanted to, she could make Jaden suffer the same pain the opponent would suffer the exact time it happened during the duel so she wouldn't have to feel anything. While Jaden was happy she took the pain upon herself so he could focus on dueling, the fact that, with any slip or mistake he may make, she would punish him with torture was something he tried his best to ensure he pleased Yubel. Unfortunately, there have been times that he was punished by her, and he had a feeling that punishments would only become more creative from this point. Why?

Because Jaden Yuki was not only accepted into Duel Academy, but was now representing the pecking order known as the Obelisk Blue dorm. The dorm that he and Yubel wanted to show for the next few years of their life here that they deserved to be at the top. The rank that would give them the best benefits the academy had to offer. This also meant that he had to be on his toes about anything he did, such as who he showed support for or how he dueled, for Yubel would always be watching when she was unsealed or attached to his hip while sealed in his deck-box.

_'Speaking of deserving to be at the top, I have an opening ceremony to attend.'_ With his new task set, Jaden took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and wore the standard blue trim uniform. He would eventually alter the outfit to match his style and represent Yubel like he did with his other clothes, but for now he had to wait until he could acquire some "spare" uniforms from his fellow students. With his outfit on and nothing out of the ordinary, Jaden attached the deck-box to his hip and walked out of his room. He was happy to note that his door automatically locked itself upon closing, but would eventually add his own locks to it for additional security.

Who knew what kind of crazy, thieving duelists existed in Obelisk Blue?

The walk to the opening ceremony room was interesting. Many of his fellow freshman who roamed the halls were openly pointing him out and talking about his duel with Dr. Crowler as if he was deaf to their words. About half of the students that talked about him were afraid of him, whereas others were either cautious or openly stated that they didn't believe in the supernatural duels that which the King of Games dealt with during his prime. To him, he didn't need to speak up for himself or add to any of the freshman's thoughts. In the end, everyone would know what kind of duelist he was, and nothing would stand in his way.

It wasn't long before he ended up in the ceremony room, and he realized that the main floor was where he was to join his fellow freshman. He noticed Bastion Misawa and Syrus Truesdale were politely chatting with one another, and recognized which dorms they were members of. To be honest, he wasn't surprised to see that Bastion ended up in Ra Yellow or that Syrus became a Slifer Red with the way they dueled in the exams. Hopefully Bastion would give him a challenge in the future, but Syrus... He honestly doubted the little blue teen could make him sweat in any type of challenge. Right as he was about to approach the two, the flat screen TV in front of them turned on, revealing the bald, bearded face of Chancellor Sheppard.

"Good morning and welcome my students!" The Chancellor said with a bright smile and had his eyes closed. It made Jaden wonder if this was an old recording, a new one for this particular batch, or him doing a live screening. "I'm Chancellor Sheppard, the headmaster here, and you are the best and brightest young duelists in the world! Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. I think you'll find them quite comfortable, depending on how you ranked of course, hahahaha!" The screen shut down to its basic logo, signaling the end of the ceremony. The freshman used this opportunity to reform with their fellow dorm mates, with the exception of Bastion and Syrus of course. Jaden wouldn't want to be rude to the first of his social links in the other dorms.

"Good morning Bastion, Syrus." Bastion gave him a polite nod and smile. Syrus, on the other hand, looked down and mumbled hello with a restrained shiver. His duel must have effected the little blue teen worse than he thought. "Have you two been able to explore much of your dorms yet?"

"N-No." Syrus replied with his head held upwards. "I came straight here after being led around the campus by a senior Slifer Red student. Apparently we're known to get lost quite easily..."

"Haha." Bastion chuckled as he brought out his PDA. Every student was assigned one, and if one was stolen or broken, it was up to the student to earn enough dueling points, or DP for short, to buy a replacement. If the thief of the stolen PDA is found, then things go differently. It was something Jaden discovered while reading some of the rules of Duel Academy. "You should take the rest of the day and learn how to use the PDA Syrus. It has everything you will need to know on it."

"Yea," Jaden decided it would be best to add in some input, and brought his PDA out as well, "like here, see this icon with a phone book on it? Now, if I was to put my PDA up against yours like a Tamagotchi and click the scan option." Within seconds both of their PDAs made a small chime sound, revealing new contact data for the two of them to be swapped. Syrus looked at the PDA in awe, allowing Jaden to grin and look at the new info he got from Syrus. "You can change the settings so people have to put in a password before getting your information, but to each their own."

"Well don't leave me left out of this bonding moment gentlemen." Bastion shared his info with Jaden and Syrus, allowing for a new bit of happiness to be seen amongst the group. A sensation that Jaden, if he was to be honest with himself, didn't know what to appreciate with this moment. Was this genuine happiness with strangers, people he planned to use? Did he see them as more than tools? "So what are you guys going to do for the rest of the day?"

"I'm going to learn this PDA and maybe check out the store they have on campus. You Bastion?"

"I'm going back to my room and will be setting up my material for classes. One can never be too prepared after all. What about you Jaden? Will you be joining your other Obelisks?" Jaden clicked his tongue in annoyance and jerked his head over to the few Obelisks who stayed in the room. It was obvious that they were talking about them, and that wasn't surprising. It was rumored in the city that Ra Yellows and Obelisk Blues were on neutral terms with each other, as were the better Slifer Red and Ra Yellow students, but for an Obelisk to associate with a Slifer on the first day? Oh Jaden was sure that he was making waves just by standing here being helpful to Syrus the Slifer. A thought reminding him about the altering he wanted to do to his uniform, and he figured that if he was creating waves, then why not make a tsunami while he was at it?

"I think I'll join Syrus and check out the store and see what they have for sale before checking out the dueling arena reserved for Obelisk Blue students. I know each dorm have dueling arenas, so eventually I'll visit the others, but home field has priority right?"

"Wait, we each have dueling arenas?" Jaden scratched the back of his head and sighed.

"At least I would assume so. With the money this academy must make, and considering this is a _dueling_ school, there should be dueling arenas, or at least designated areas for each student to duel."

"I hope so, but considering the things I've heard about the Slifer dorm... Well..." Bastion looked to the side and nodded his head to the two of them. "Well, I should be going. Best of luck to you two. Goodbye." As the Ra Yellow left, the remaining duo looked at each other and the initial signs of awkwardness began between them. A silent atmosphere that threatened to become heavy with lack of action or interaction between them.

"So, we ready to go Jaden?" Syrus, oh you can certainly be surprising with how forward you can be. Jaden nodded, and with the map application on his PDA on, the two left for the store. They got there much faster than Jaden initially thought, mostly thanks to the PDA he assumed, and tried to enter the store. Tried being the key word here. The store, much to their shock, was overflowing with students buying packs, starter decks, and other types of supplies that Jaden didn't care to note. Syrus seemed to shrink to the size of a pea with how withdrawn he became in such a large crowd, but that wasn't Jaden's problem. No, what Jaden wanted to focus on was one of the few areas of the store that were practically empty.

The arts and crafts section.

He was surprised to see that they had the leathery black material his main city outfit consisted of, and grabbed three sections of the three foot by three foot material. He also picked up enough of the blue material that matched his uniform to make pockets on the lower sides of his coat. Unlike most of his freshman, he taught himself how to sew to repair holes in his pants from kids pushing him when he was younger. After he befriended Yubel and began to learn how to duel from her, his sewing technique grew over the years. He could sew pockets with no outward impression showing he added anything to his clothes, which allowed him to stash items he didn't want to think about.

"Are you finding everything alright?" Jaden glanced behind him to see a tall, brown eyed girl with long brown hair that was covered by a white cloth. She wore a white uniform that he saw an older coworker wearing behind the counter, and assumed she worked with her here at the store.

"Would you happen to have any particular suggestions for someone hoping to make some alterations to their uniform?"

"Something not exactly right in terms of the size, because I can get you a proper fitting uniform in half an hour if you don't mind waiting in the back room."

"As much as I don't mind checking out the back, my uniform is fine. I just want to make some alterations is all." The girl looked at him for a moment before gazing at his body. He supposed she could be taking in his uniform as well, but-

_'She better not be checking you out Jaden.'_

_'Hello to you too Yubel.'_ Jaden thought with an urge to roll his eyes calling to him. Yubel normally woke up the moment she became released from the deck-box or became attached to his hip, so her responding so late was unlike her. _'And I doubt she is checking me out. She has to be, what, eighteen?'_

_'You're a teen yourself Jaden, and who knows what kind of blind eyes Obelisk Blue students get with the staff here.'_

_'YUBEL!'_

"Well, for five DP you can buy some of the personal travel sewing kits we have on stock." The girl caught Jaden's attention once again, causing him to shift his attention back to her. Hopefully he didn't express any shock at Yubel's comment. "For the professional personal sewing kits, which have fifteen different needle sizes instead of the standard seven, and come with fifty different colors instead of the standard two sets of four, which are red, yellow, blue, and white. Both come with the same amount of pins though, but the professional set come with a pair of better, longer pair of scissors that the travel pack simply can't compare."

"I take it the travel size kits are lower quality overall?"

"Not at all." The store clerk shook her head. "It's just the scissors that are included with the kit are too small and the metal should be sharpened first before attempting to cut anything. The professional travel kits, which cost twenty DP, have longer, sharp scissors that don't put strain on the fingers, which could ruin the precision of you snipping string."

_'I'll be sure to take that into consideration when I use those scissors to be precise when I slash at your throat you insolent harpie!'_

**_'YUBEL!'_**

"I'm sorry!" The girl closed her eyes and bowed. When she looked up, she had a sheepish expression on her face. "I was told to memorize the stock to the smallest of details, so I bet I came off as boring or just a nerd. Would you be interested in either of the kits?"

"It's fine...Oh, I don't know your name. I'm Jaden. Jaden Yuki." Jaden brought out his hand for a hand shake. A gesture the girl matched with a smile as they shook hands.

"I'm Seiko, but I have people call me Sadie since it's easier for some students to say around here. So about my question..."

"Hmm...I think I'll just stick with the material I have at the moment and buy a kit later on if you don't mind."

"JADEN!" The two of them turned to see Syrus, who was waving from the front of the crowd at the registers with a bag in hand. Either Syrus bought a number of booster packs, or he decided to buy card sleeves, a new deck-box, and something the size of a starter or structure deck to toy around with in. Either way, the teen had in his hand his PDA, and pointed at the exit. "I gotta go back to my dorm and find my room! I'll see you later Jaden!"

"A friend I take?" Seiko asked, causing him to smile and nod. He knew that Syrus wasn't exactly a friend at the moment. A connection for sure, but a friend? When they reached the counter Seiko opened one of the closed registers and quickly rang him up, and asked for his PDA. Confused, he handed it to her and watched as a familiar chime went off before it was given back to him. "Here at Duel Academy you pay for everything with Duel Points, some of which are given to you daily, whereas others are earned through tasks, grades, and through duels. I hope to see you again soon Jaden."

"You too Seiko." With that, Jaden left the store with a bag of material in hand. As he walked away, he was putting his PDA back in his pocket when he noticed a notification popped up. "Hmm, I wonder what this could be?" When no one was looking, he clicked on the icon and saw that, rather than one notification, it was two. The first was informing him that the welcoming ceremony dinner would occur in an hour, and a contact was added to his PDA. But, wait, that shouldn't be right. He hadn't given his PDA to anyone to share information with, and...

Wait...

_'I think I'm going to have a word or two with this woozy tonight Jaden.'_ Yubel commented as he looked at the contact page for Seiko, the newest addition to his PDA. His deck-box felt as if it was on fire, and it took all of his willpower not to throw the deck-box to the ground at the sheer rage he felt coming from it. Didn't Yubel understand that he was only focused on dueling and making a career here, not getting girl's numbers. _'Wait. You can use these as phones too Jaden? What kind of mockery is this! It completely takes the romance of taking the time and effort to meet a person and then plan things if you can do it miles away!'_

_'I'm not too sure the person who invented the telegraph, let alone the telephone and cell phone would agree with you Yubel.'_ Jaden joked with her as he walked back to the dorms to drop off his materials before heading down to the Obelisk dining hall. Unfortunately for him, his joke wasn't easing Yubel at all. If anything, she was thinking of how to destroy the PDA if he knew her well enough. So, rather than stew on the issue, he kept thinking of the delicious spread of food the Obelisk dorm must have waiting for him, such as fried shrimp! He wasn't expecting any of the upperclassmen to show up since this dinner was to be for the freshman only, but maybe there would be an upperclassmen giving them some welcoming words and advice to ensure they'd be the best?

* * *

The dining hall, despite the dinner not occurring for another half hour, was already filled with plenty of Obelisk Blue students standing around everywhere except the table. Jaden assumed that it was either rude or improper to sit at the table waiting for food. Most likely made them look like commoners, or something like that. It wasn't as if Jaden cared about the opinions of others at this point since a dinner wouldn't change how people saw him. Dueling, on the other hand, can do a lot to a person, their reputation, and the way others saw them. Jaden glanced around the area and saw Kaiser Ryo and the blonde haired girl that stood by him during the dueling exam coming towards the table from the opposite side. It seemed that the other freshman caught sight of the two and became quiet as they got closer to the table. No, that wasn't exactly right.

They were getting closer to _him_.

"So you're the Cursed Duelist, am I right?" The Kaiser asked. Their eyes met, and Jaden knew that he was looking at a cold, seasoned duelist that wouldn't hold anything back. He would rip his opponents to shreds if given the opportunity, and leave nothing but an empty shell behind. This person, right before his very eyes, was someone that Jaden wanted to duel right now!

"My name is Jaden Yuki. That title means nothing to me." The blonde raised an eyebrow and glanced at the freshman that stared at them. Knowing his luck, they were holding their breaths not wanting to disturb the conversation that was about to take place.

"To everyone else at the dorm, Jaden, your title means trouble. Do you even know what you did to Dr. Crowler?" Jaden couldn't help but to snicker at that. The blonde and Kaiser didn't seem to like that, for they glared at him seconds after the first snicker came from his lips.

"What's so funny freshman?"

_'Oh? Going to use the title to assert dominance over me hm?'_ Jaden smiled and leaned on the table with his elbows on the table. With the knuckles of his hands under his chin, his head wouldn't be lowered from looking at the two in front of him. He didn't want to miss any reactions he would get from these two. "It isn't my fault that the doctor got mad at the laughter the freshman of this year gave him and attacked my monster without considering what it might be able to do."

"Oh yes, because it's fair to use a monster that has never existed before."

"Never existed before hm?" Jaden stared at the blonde, who glared at him with her arms crossed under her bust. An impressive bust, but that didn't matter at the moment. "That's strange, considering it not only is a proper Duel Monster card, but works on official Kaiba Corp. gear, which must mean that it has to be real. Regardless, it isn't my fault that Dr. Crowler doesn't know every card in the game, but should he? I don't think so. If he did, then he would actually be in an asylum due to overworking his brain with all that knowledge. Could you imagine..."

"You're not worthy of talking to Alexis you ruffian!" When he saw the two upperclassman look past his shoulders, Jaden took that as his cue to turn to see the culprit, and he wasn't impressed by what he saw. It was a teenage boy with pale skin, black hair that spiked over the right side of his face, and just had one of those faces you couldn't help but want to punch. "So apologize for the sarcasm you're unfairly giving her!"

"Two things." Jaden began as he stood up and walked closer to the guy. "First, Alexis can fight her own battles for her, so don't insult her by trying to fight her battles." At this the angry guy seemed to get even more infuriated. A reaction that Jaden didn't mind at this point. He could use this as a moment to put his foot down against the other freshman, and it wasn't like this opportunity would come up again. "Second, ruffian? Are you Dr. Crowler's pet parrot or something? I didn't expect for anyone else to use that word but him."

"Grrr, shut your mouth ruffian!"

"Yea!" Two students, a light green haired teen wearing glasses and a tanned fellow with short, spiky hair, spoke from the front of the crowd. "Show him who is boss Chazz!" The now identified Chazz smirked and pointed at Jaden with his left arm, proudly displaying his duel disk at the same time.

"See, the way I see things ruffian, your duel with Crowler was nothing but luck!" Whispers broke out through the surrounding freshman at the claim. Luck? Well all duels relied on luck that was true, but winning by luck despite the field advantage Jaden had?

"Care to tell me what you mean by that Polly, or do you need a cracker first?" Chazz widened his eyes in pure rage as he stomped on the ground.

"_MY_ name is not _POLLY_! And I think I'll show how lucky you were in your duel by challenging you to a duel right here and now!"

"Chazz," Jaden turned to Alexis, who was shaking her head, "don't be an idiot. The dinner will be starting twenty minutes, and that's excluding the five minutes the waiters will take to place all of the food on the table. Face it, you won't be able to duel right here and now." Jaden heard Chazz scoff and activated his duel disk. At the sight of the classic duel academy duel disk being turned on, Jaden grinned a wicked smile that Yubel would be proud of and made his own come to life.

"Alexis, it'll only take five minutes to take care of this ruffian, let alone twenty!"

"Yea Alexis." Jaden interrupted as he slid his deck into his duel disk. He could feel Yubel's happiness as his duel disk shuffled his cards. "It'll only take five or so minutes to wipe the floor with Chazz."

"I've had ENOUGH OF YOU!" Chazz roared as he drew his five cards. Jaden did the same, and glanced at his hand quick enough to not show whether his hand was a good one or not. He didn't need Chazz to catch on and plan cautiously around him. "I'm going to wipe the floor with you, Cursed Duelist, and send you to Slifer Red where you belong!"

"Lets duel!"

Jaden: 4000 Chazz: 4000

"And I'll start things off, DRAW!" With a draw from his deck, Chazz slammed a card on his duel disk. "I summon **Chthonian Soldier** in attack mode!" An armored monster with a large, steel blade who wore a torn robe around its waist appeared in front of Chazz.

**Chthonian Soldier** (Warrior Type/Dark/Level 4/Atk-1200 Def-1400)

"I'll set a card and end my turn. Lets see what you got ruffian!" Jaden brought up his left hand and made a mouth motion with it.

_"Lets see what you got ruffian."_ Jaden said in a nosily tone and a silly grin on his face. This seemed to piss off Chazz even more, as well as the two students who cheered Chazz earlier. A reaction that made Jaden even happier to see. "Do you even hear yourself Chazz? That is what you sound like."

"Is not!"

"It is you little parrot, but lets see what I have in store for you. Draw!" Jaden plucked his new card and gave it a nod. "First I activate a card that should look familiar to everyone. **Hand Destruction**!"

"Tch, that card again." Chazz picked two cards and sent them to the grave, an action Jaden happily copied. With that done, they drew two new cards, and Jaden was happy to make use of one of them.

"With that done, I normal summon **Archfiend Cavalry** in attack mode!" A thin skeleton wearing red armor appeared on Jaden's side of the field. It rode on an undead horse that wore a brown version of its rider's armor. The skeleton held in its left hand a lance made of a large spinal chord, and it was currently pointed at Chazz's monster.

**Archfiend Cavalry** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 4/ Atk-1900 Def-0)

"No way! A monster with 1900 attack on the first turn!" An Obelisk Blue student shouted from the crowd.

"It makes you wonder what kind of other monsters are hidden in his deck..."

"Now I'll have my **Archfiend Calvary** attack your soldier. Pierce it through its spine!" The skeleton knight raised its lance into the air, making the horse cry out before it dashed towards the **Chthonian Soldier** and allowed its rider to do as it was told. The sword the **Chthonian Soldier** had flung itself through Jaden, causing him to look down at his life points curiously.

Jaden: 3300 Chazz: 3300

"Hah, how do you like that ruffian?" Chazz asked as he sent his destroyed monster to the grave. "Whenever my monster is destroyed by battle, you take the same amount of battle damage I took. So you just injured yourself for nothing!" Jaden shook his head.

"No, it wasn't for nothing. Now you have one monster less on your field, whereas I still have a monster. Either way, it won't matter for long. I'll set two cards and end my turn."

"Let me show you what a student of Obelisk Blue is capable of!" Chazz started his turn with a new card in his hand, and smirked once again. "I'll start things off by activating my face down, **Call of the Haunted**!" A trap card depicting a cold graveyard filled with various tombstones was revealed. "I get to revive a monster from my graveyard in attack mode, and I'll pick my **Chthonian Soldier**!" The revived monster growled and swung its sword around for a moment. "But he won't be staying for long, since I'm sending him to the graveyard to summon **Helpoemer**!" A blue withered husk bound to a gold tombstone appeared. It had no eyes, but it had several mouths that were open in desperation for freedom. At least, that was the feeling Jaden got from the card.

**Helpoemer** (Fiend Type/Dark/ Level 5/ Atk-2000 Def-1400)

"And now I'll have it attack your little horse rider!"

"Actually..." Jaden spoke up as Chazz's monster screamed in agony, releasing a visual echo of its screams at Jaden's monster, destroying it. "Thanks for helping me out buddy! Remind me later to give you a cracker polly!"

"What do you mean I 'helped' you, and don't call me polly!"

"It's simple." Jaden grinned and activated one of his set cards. "You see, I can only activate this card when a monster on my side of the field has been destroyed by battle, and the card is called **Option Hunter**! It allows me to gain life points equal to the original attack of my destroyed monster, which was 1900!"

Jaden: 5100 Chazz: 3300

"So now, thanks to you, I'm not only filled life point wise, but I have some extra to play around with. But don't mind me parrot, it's still your turn." Chazz, much to Jaden's pleasure, was visibly shaking as the Obelisk Blue students around them were talking even louder than before.

"He _is_ from the Princeton family right? So why is he being played like a Slifer?"

"Hahaha, and to think he came from some high end dueling prep school! It obviously hasn't done him any good!"

"Wow, who would have thought that Obelisk students didn't have any idea of being like family?" Jaden spoke aloud as he glanced at Alexis and the Kaiser. Both of them, he noted, were focused on the duel, and hadn't said a single thing this duel so far. It made him think what could be going through their heads at the moment.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS EVERYONE!" Jaden turned around to see a furious Chazz Princeton. A furious student who waved his hand at him. "I end my turn, but mark my words ruffian. You're going down!"

"Yea, alright, down for a face down perhaps! Draw!" Jaden drew his card, and shook his head at what he got. "Oh wow..." Right as Chazz was about to say something, Jaden played the card he drew. "Just my luck! I play **Pot of Greed**, allowing me to draw two more cards!" With that said, he drew two more cards, enjoying the annoyed look that Chazz currently wore. "Next I'll play my own **Call of the Haunted** and bring Yubel from my graveyard to the field in attack mode!" Yubel appeared in a small whirlwind of her own creation, having her third eye open first, which scared some of the Obelisk Blue students before she opened her main pair. He took a moment to appreciate the beauty that no one else could ever understand, and proceeded with his turn.

Yubel (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 10/Atk-0 Def-0)

"Next I activate **Fires of Doomsday** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 1/Atk-0 Def-0), which allows me to special summon two Doomsday Tokens in exchange for me only being able to summon other monsters this turn, but I can set, which is what I'll do with this card!" Two black flames with a single eye appeared next to Yubel in defense mode, which a single set card appeared on the field. With nothing else, Jaden set another card and proceeded to place another card in his back row before continuing with the last part of his turn. "Now, in order for me to keep Yubel on my side of the field, I must tribute a monster, and the monster I select is my set card, which is **Sangan**. Due to **Sangan** being sent-"

"Just pick your monster you ruffian!" Jaden happily picked a monster and added it to his hand, watching as his duel disk shuffled his deck for a moment before looking at Chazz. What would his opponent do? He would most likely go for the tokens with **Helpoemer**, and he was sure that Chazz had another monster he could bring out as well. So it all came down to trying to understand what Chazz would do at this point. "Your field may be nearly field, but the monsters you have are nothing but weak, pathetic monsters Yuki! DRAW!"

_'Chazz, you don't know anything do you?'_ Jaden though to himself as he watched Chazz slap a card on his duel disk.

"I summon **Dark Blade** in attack mode!" A warrior wearing black armor with three silver talons upon each shoulder appeared next to **Helpoemer**. With a dark red cape and two sharp swords in hand, the monster looked like a fierce opponent to face.

**Dark Blade** (Warrior Type/Dark/Level 4/Atk-1800 Def-1500)

"Now I'll have my **Dark Blade** and **Helpoemer** attack your two tokens!"

"I'm going to activate the quick play known as **Mirage Tube**!" As Jaden revealed one of his set cards, a rainbow colored tube appeared on the ground in front of Yubel. At the sight of the tube Yubel channeled some duel energy into her right fist and punched the tube, sending a burst of energy at Chazz. When the energy made contact with Chazz, a blue eruption of energy hid the arrogant Obelisk Blue student from view, but did nothing to hide the sudden depletion of his life points. "When you target one of my monsters for an attack, this dishes out a thousand points of damage straight to your face!"

Jaden: 5100 Chazz: 2300

When the cloud of energy disappeared, it revealed Chazz wearing a slightly singed Obelisk Blue uniform with what looked to be embers lit around his pant legs. As if to show that the embers were real, small trails of smoke began to come from them, causing Chazz's two fans to scream and throw a pitcher of juice at him.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO IDIOTS DOING!" The two looked at each other and pointed at Chazz's legs.

"B-b-but Chazz!" The two began at the same time. "Y-Your legs were-"

"Shut it!" Chazz turned back to Jaden, who was grinning with glee as the only monster left on his side of the field was Yubel and the **Call of the Haunted** that kept her on the field. Seeing how empty it was, a laugh came out from him. "With only that monster on your side of the field, I'll eventually come across a way to get rid of your precious monster. Your time is near ruffian!"

"No where as near as your defeat polly, WRAK, DRAW!" With a new card in hand, Jaden grinned at what he now had. "Just what the vet ordered. I play **Double Summon**, which allows me to normal summon twice this turn. I'll first normal summon a **Sangan** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 3/ Atk-1000 Def-600), but he won't be staying for long as I'm tributing him for **Dark Ruler Ha Des** in attack mode!" One of the original terrors of the Fiend lore of Duel Monsters, the **Dark Rules Ha Des** appeared wearing formal robes with a giant skull below his chest. With the small, purple face right below his green head, some who study the lore are confused as to which face is his true face.

**Dark Ruler Ha Des** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 6/Atk-2450 Def-1600)

"Wow, what a powerful combination he just pulled..." Jaden heard Alexis whisper from behind him. Something about what she said made him even more eager to defeat Chazz. If she was thinking how impressive that combo was, then what were the other Obelisk students thinking? That very thought got him excited to see what would come next in this duel!

"I hope you're prepared Chazz, because I'm about to bring to you a whole world of hurt! Now attack this peon before you and rid us of **Helpoemer**!" Dark Ruler Ha Des conjured a wine glass filled with green liquid and threw it at Chazz's monster. The bound creature released a final scream as it melted into a pile of goo before disappearing from the field.

Jaden: 5100 Chazz: 1850

"And, before you begin to chirp any comments about me having to sacrifice either Yubel or my Dark Ruler before the end of my turn, I'm activating a second copy of **Fires of Doomsday**, allowing me to put on the field two more Doomsday tokens in defense mode before I end!"

"Grrr, draw!" Chazz drew another card as Yubel consumed one of the Doomsday tokens. An action that pleased Yubel to no end, Jaden was sure of. "I'll switch my **Dark Blade** to defense mode (1500), set a monster, and end my turn."

"My turn then." Jaden drew his card and revealed it to Chazz. "Since it is now my first main phase, I can banish **Evil HERO Infernal Gainer** from my hand and target a Fiend monster I control, such as **Dark Ruler Ha Des**, and it can attack twice that turn." An astral image of a sinister, muscular purple and red monster with six red eyes flew into **Dark Ruler Ha Des**, making it take on a purple aura that reeked of evil. Ah, what a beautiful sight to see. "With that, I'm summoning **Doomcaliber Knight** in attack mode!" A skeletal knight wearing black armor with a black horse wearing skeletal armor like its rider appeared. With a sinister looking sword and a shield looking like the skull of an alien, the monster was certainly horrifying.

**Doomcaliber Knight** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 4/Atk-1900 Def-1800)

"Clear the field for Doomcaliber **Dark Ruler Ha Des**!" This time a blast of purple energy took out **Dark Blade** and the set monster, revealing itself to be another **Chthonian Soldier**. Before its pixels disappeared, **Doomcaliber Knight** jumped over the pixels and stabbed through Chazz's head, making him drop to the ground with his eyes wider than dinner plates. As the ding of life points depleting to zero occurred and the dueling holograms disappeared, Yubel turned to him and gave him a dull look before she disappeared with the others. _'I'm going to assume that she was bored with Chazz and how hesitant he was to attack after a while. Yubel just needs to realize that she, as a high class monster, will make people hesitant to willingly attack her.'_

"So strange..." Jaden turned to see who said that odd line, only to see Alexis and Kaiser walking away from him. As he stared at them walking away, he heard the main entrance open, revealing Dr. Crowler without his duel coat on with a line of waiters and waitresses with carts of food following behind his every step. Jaden glanced at Chazz, who quickly sat near the end of one of the nearby tables with his two friends sitting next to him. As everyone sat at their tables and most likely whispered about the duel that they witnessed before Dr. Crowler would begin to speak, Jaden couldn't help but to think about the last thing he heard before Alexis and the Kaiser walked away. What exactly was so strange about him?

-Author Note-

**Nightlance44:** The pairing is undecided at the moment, but Jaden and Yubel are the main focus of this story at the moment.

**Rafel666:** Hopefully the flashback at the start of this chapter wasn't too twisted for you. Either way, thank you for your kind review, and I hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well!

To the readers and followers, thank you for taking the opportunity to read the first chapter of The Cursed Duelist, and I certainly hope you'll like this chapter as well. To me, this chapter includes several important things, such as more of Jaden's past with his early dueling career and more insight with Yubel's personality. It also had interaction between him, Syrus, and Bastion to become the "trio" of unity between the dorms. The PDA scene is important to me since I never understood in the anime how Chazz could have gotten Jaden's contact information without some sort of instant sensory application or using some Obelisk Blue connections to get the info. Either way, I felt that I answered that oddity in a decent manner.

Plus, it oddly gave me a reason to give the store a bit more worth with the scene between him and Seiko. Seeing a bit of jealous Yubel is always humorous to see in any sort of story in my opinion. As for the rest of the chapter, well, there isn't much to say. Jaden gets introduced to Alexis in an odd way, but still hasn't been formally introduced to Zane, and Chazz got his duel with the ruffian. A duel that ended with him losing due to monsters other than Yubel. Either way, I certainly can't wait to write out the next chapter! It's certainly going to be quite heroic, that's for sure!

So, until next time everyone, stay golden!  
Kazikamikaze24


	3. Chapter 3

"God who would expect for Dr. Crowler to make his class so boring?" Jaden Yuki, an Obelisk Blue student mumbled beside Syrus Truesdale. Syrus was unique for two reasons that anyone would care for at a glance. The first was that he was in Slifer Red, the lowest dorm of Duel Academy. What mattered more than that is the fact that they were sitting next to each other at the front of the classroom. The only time a Slifer and an Obelisk would sit next one another was if there was absolutely no more open spots in a classroom, from what he noticed over the past few days of classes, and it seemed that no one was getting used to this continued habit of theirs.

Another habit that started to form was his fellow Obelisk Blue classmates were staying away from him. Very few from their dorm would interact with him, and those that do were supporters of Chazz Princeton that were hoping to get an easy shot to bully him. Tripping him near the stairs, pushing him against either a wall or window, and their attempts in the lunch hall where they nearly shoved his tray of food on himself. To be honest, these attempts were absolutely pathetic, and Jaden was able to make each attempt fail with the bonus of embarrassing Chazz's supporters in the process. It was only a matter of time before the parrot would talk to him either in an angry manner or demanding a public duel with a mechanic to get rid of Yubel once and for all.

Ha, as if the spoiled parrot could do anything of the sort. He didn't look like the type to plan anything in advance, and would resort to cheating ahead of time.

"Perfect! Well done Alexis! Of course I shouldn't have expected anything less from one of my blue Obelisks." Jaden glanced behind to see the blonde girl who stayed by the Kaiser's side. So she was a first year as well with such a powerful connection in the academy. How exactly did the two meet, he wondered.

"Yes Dr. Crowler." As soon as the blonde sat down, Jaden focused his attention back to Dr. Crowler, who mumbled something as the man scanned the room for a new target.

_'Knowing my luck, Dr. Crowler would pick on me to answer something with the hope that I fail to answer it properly. Sadly for him, I know many different card facts, so-'_

"You, Syrus Truesdale!"

"A-AHA!"

_'Huh, well what do ya know... Is this a stab at the Slifers or a slight nudge to get away from them before they ruin my credibility?'_ Jaden glanced at Syrus, who seemed to be sweating at the attention he was getting from the class. Could it be the pressure of being put on the spot? _'Either way, he really needs to chill out.'_

"Explain to the class what a field spell is."

"It's a kind of thing...that does the thing...to the things on the field...I mean, no, that's not right!"

"Even preschoolers know the answers to this you Slifer Slacker!" As part of the class laughed, Jaden rolled his eyes at the pathetic stab a Syrus. It had the effect of making Syrus look more ashamed though, which was a problem.

"No, I know! It's uh...uh..."

"Sit down." Dr. Crowler shook his head with a smirk before scanning the classroom for another student to pick on. "Now could someone answer the question? Preferably someone not in red thank you."

"A field spell." Jaden began, catching the attention of Dr. Crowler and his fellow classmates. "It's a spell card, as Alexis pointed out earlier, that stays on the field like a continuous spell, except it has its own slot separate from our spell and trap card zones. The most common field spells has positive effects that boost either the attack, defense, or both categories of specific monster types or attributes, whereas the more uncommon field spells increase the attack stat of a particular monster type or attribute while decreasing the stat of another specific monster. The rare field spells are known to manipulate the field, graveyard, or hand with strict conditions, such as **Pandemonium** or **The Gates of Dark World**, and sometimes give duelists the slight edge necessary to win the duel."

"A-Ah, what a wonderful answer Jaden." Dr. Crowler said with a fake smile that couldn't hide the anger in the man's eyes. The class whispered to one another about what, Jaden didn't care. What he cared about was what the doctor would say next. "Thank you for your answer, but next time please stand when you're going to answer a question."

"The only time I'm going to stand up is either to leave the class or to duel Dr. Crowler. I hope you don't mind that."

"Ugh, moving on!" An odd sensation caught Jaden's attention, causing him to glance behind him and saw something he didn't expect. Or, at least, he came to a realization he didn't expect. Alexis was staring at him, their eyes met, and he cared about the reason why she stared at him. He cared about why she thought something about him was strange, and it was infuriating him to no end at the moment!

"Thanks for covering for me Jaden." Syrus whispered, earning a nod from him. To be honest, Jaden didn't exactly do it for Syrus. Sure, he explained it in such great length so hopefully the blue haired teen could remember a sliver of the information and make use of it in the future but he explained it so clearly so he would cover all the bases. No error, no gap of information, and no counterarguments could have been made with what he presented. He was a perfectionist.

He had to be.

* * *

"Man, the way that Professor Banner presented his class was so boring." Professor Banner, who is the head of the Slifer Red dorm from what Syrus told him before class started, just ended the class and left, allowing for the other students to leave. Well, everyone but him and Syrus of course. Syrus was using the gap in his schedule to work on the deck recipe of his deck, which was the main focus of Banner's lesson for today. Jaden, rather than leave, decided to stick around and take a glance at how Syrus' deck worked.

"I know right?" Syrus nodded at him before returning his focus to sorting out his deck. He piled all the monsters to the left, the spells to the right, and had traps and fusion monsters between the two piles. No matter how you looked at it, it was a mess that was irritating Jaden to fix it. "The way he talked was boring to the point where I thought I was going to pass out!"

"No, you don't know." Syrus paused and looked at him with a hurt expression. As much as Jaden didn't mean to crush the blue teen's spirit, the Slifer wasn't seeing the bigger picture. "Professor Banner is teaching Duel Alchemy, which is the overall process of creating strategies between monsters, spells, traps, and the overall ratio between these categories. I feel that he should have stressed on the importance of deck recipes and the stability of Duel Alchemy since without the stability, the entire deck crumbles."

"You _do_ have to remember that this is just the first week of classes Jaden Yuki, so the serious class discussions will come later." Jaden turned around to see the cause of his most recent confusion, Alexis, looking at them from the top of the classroom. She smiled and suddenly wore a playful expression. "Plus you have to remember that this is only the first year. All the seriousness will come in a few years, so ease up. It looks like you're going to flood poor Syrus with too much information."

"S-She knows my name?" Syrus mumbled beside him. Not that Jaden cared for what he said, but it did pose an interesting thought. Did she only know Syrus' name due to Dr. Crowler, or from gathering information by asking their fellow classmates?

"I'll keep your words into consideration Alexis, was it?"

"Yes, my name is Alexis Rhodes. Isn't your next class starting up in about fifteen minutes?"

"Does it matter?" Jaden shrugged before standing up and walked away from Syrus, who seemed to be busy daydreaming about being known by the blonde in front of them. As he walked past Alexis, she stared at him, watching him move beyond her reach, and stopped at the door. With a sigh, he glanced at the blonde behind him, who looked at him with caution, and nudged to the door. "If you have something you want to say, could we walk and talk then? Don't want to be late to class right Syrus?" When he saw that Syrus wasn't going to respond to him anytime soon, Jaden shook his head and left the room. Be stupid and carefree when others aren't watching, or else your reputation could be ruined in many exploitable ways. One of the many lessons Yubel taught him when he was younger. A lesson that hasn't failed him.

"So..." Jaden wasn't surprised to hear Alexis following him, but he didn't expect for her to actually start talking without any nudging involved. "Your duel with Chazz at the feast was interesting."

"Thanks." She isn't the shy type, right? That type of personality conflicted against what she presented herself as when they first met. Strong willed, confident, and possibly an excuse to get to the Kaiser through one way or another.

"Your deck always seems to come through to you whenever you need it to. It makes me wonder just how long you have been playing duel monsters for."

"If you must know, I've been playing for as long as I could remember. Probably since I was five or six." Was she prying him of information for the Kaiser? If so, why? The Kaiser didn't seem like the person to care about his opponents and learning of their deck before facing them, so why the interest in his past?

"So that explains why you're so serious about deck recipes then. You've been playing for years and don't want to lose. Okay, I get that."

"_Well hurray_, you get it." Jaden sarcastically stated. This earned him a harsh, serious look from the blonde. "What?"

"What I don't get is why do you rely on Yubel so much to be the winning blow." This made Jaden stop walking to face Alexis. She looked at him with concern and caution, something he wasn't surprised to see. No, what made him pause was her interest in how his deck functioned. "You had another winning strategy on the field, and a second option that caught my interest."

"Something caught your interest about my deck hmm?" Jaden turned around and began to walk away from her. "I'm sorry, but I don't give away cards to people I just met Alexis! Try again after a few conversations!"

"Your deck won't always give you Yubel, so what will you do when she isn't there to be your perfect shield Jaden Yuki!" Something about what she said angered him. He didn't understand what about it angered him so greatly, but it made him hurry to his next class with the intention of working off his aggression.

* * *

The bright, sunny sky of Duel Academy gave way to the cool, chilly sensation that is the night, and most of the students of the academy were either eating dinner, finishing homework, talking with their fellow students, or working on their decks. For the girls of Duel Academy, they're given the special privilege of automatically being accepted into Obelisk Blue which has a unique treasure that none of the other dorms have. They have the bathhouse, which is not only gigantic in terms of size, but has multiple pools of water for all the girls to stay without being pressed against one another for space.

This is where we find Alexis Rhodes, known to many of the students as the Queen of Duel Academy. She wasn't alone though. She was sitting in the warm, soothing water with her friends Mindy, a black haired brown eyes girl with poor dueling skills, and Jasmine, a orange haired student whose dueling skills are good, but hates Slifers with a passion for multiple reasons. The thing that brought these two girls together was their love of gossip, cute boys, and getting the scoop before anyone else does. A thought that made Alexis think on more than one occasion if these girls were truly her friend, or just someone leeching off her.

"Do you two remember how stupid that Slifer Slacker looked earlier in Dr. Crowler's class?" Jasmine brought up, yet again, another Slifer to make fun of. Despite Alexis not rolling her eyes or saying anything, she was getting tired of how people made fun of Slifers. "It's a real shame that Dr. Crowler couldn't kick him out of his class for being unable to answer a simple question. It'd be one less Slifer to worry about."

"Speaking of that question," Mindy added, "what do you girls think of Jaden Yuki? It seems like the entire dorm is talking about the Cursed Duelist reputation of his and his duel with Chazz revealed that he might have control over the shadows!"

"Wait, what?" Jasmine asked. "There is no way someone can manipulate the shadows. That type of stuff doesn't exist in anything except the movies."

"No way!" Mindy shook her head and clapped her hands together. This resulted in a splash that nearly reached Alexis' eyes if she hadn't leaned away in time. After a moment of splashing between the girls, Alexis coughed, catching her friend's attention, and resulted in ending the short competition quickly.

"So who is believing what Chazz is saying about Jaden Yuki?" Alexis asked, causing Mindy to turn to her.

"Not that many of the Obelisks believe him, but some are speculating if he is a con artist or simply using cards that can produce small seizures to get opponents to faint or become ill. That way, he wins by default, takes a card by his ante rule, and gets to enjoy the misery of his opponent."

"...That's rather specific of you Mindy." Jasmine added, causing the girl to blush and look away from her friends. A small pause made itself known before Jasmine grabbed Mindy from behind and rubbed her knuckles into her friend's head. "You have a crush on Chazz don't you!"

"I-I do not!" As the two entered an argument about boys, Alexis heard the odd sound of rustling coming from the bushes outside the bathhouse. Nothing should be outside at this time of night, so whatever made that sound had to be man made, which would mean...

_'We have someone sneaking around outside.'_ Alexis swam to her towel, which was located near the edge of the upper level of the towel racks by the submerged stairs, and dried herself off before wrapping it around. With a spare towel in hand, she walked outside and looked around for anything suspicious, expecting for someone to give themselves away. As she looked around, the only noise she could hear were Mindy and Jasmine continuing to argue with one another, making it difficult for her to concentrate on spotting anything unusual.

"Psssh, hey!" A hissed whisper came to her right, causing Alexis to turn and see the all too familiar sight of a pair of small glasses and a few stands of light blue hair poking from a bush. Not to jump to assumptions, Alexis walked over to the bush and bent down, moving some of the bush to reveal Syrus Truesdale, who was smiling at her in an unusual way she didn't recognize.

"What are you doing here Syrus." She snapped, causing the guy to get out of his smiling state and showed her an envelope with a kiss mark. A kiss mark that caused her to glare at the item.

"I got your from my locker Alexis. I made sure that no one saw me come out here, like you asked!"

"I-It's that stupid blue haired Slifer Slacker!" A loud, weird cry startled the two, causing Alexis to see a blur of yellow and black stretch out of a bush not too far from her left. It looked as if someone was trying to trick Syrus as a prank. Poor guy.

"Stay still." She whispered as she pushed him back into the bush so he couldn't be seen. With a deep breath, she yelled out to anyone that could hear _"EEEEEK, A PERVERT IS SPYING ON ME!"_ With that, the prankster screamed as a horde of teenage girls ran out of the bathhouse to her location, making the prankster dive into the water and swim away. Within minutes the horde of girls came around Alexis to ask her questions about the 'pervert'. What did he look like? Did she get a good look of him and, if so, was he cute at least? Which way did he leave? Should they get the mistress of the dorm or take care of it themselves? By the time that the horde left, Alexis was exhausted and didn't want to see another girl for the rest of the night.

"C-Can I come out now?" Syrus whispered to her. With a light sigh, she nodded, allowing the Slifer to poke his head out of the bush and chuckled at her. He looked so innocent and carefree. It's a shame that someone is out to prank him, especially since it's the first week too. "Thanks for the save Alexis. So what did you want to see me for anyway?"

"Could I see that letter Syrus?" With the letter now in hand, Alexis opened it and read the contents. Sadly, as she suspected, the letter was a forgery, and Syrus truly was the victim of a horrible prank. "Sorry to tell you this Syrus, but this letter isn't from me."

"What!"

"Shh."

"Sorry," Syrus sighed as he looked away from her, "Now you must think that I'm a pervert, or a loser, or even a perverted loser. I'm not that kind of person. Honest!"

"I know you're not Syrus." She glanced at him with a cute smile that she knew made the boys of the school feel good about themselves. Though the smile might be a bit forced, what she was about to say was the honest truth. "If anything, you coming here in the middle of the night without fear shows how courageous you are."

"Courageous?" Syrus whispered, earning a nod from her. Her smile was taking the effect she expected, and watched as he smiled with his eyes watering from the surge of emotion. As she saw this, a thought entered her head. A thought that made her smile at the thought of being able to not only take advantage of the situation, but to possibly get an answer to a question she needed to be filled.

"But could I ask a favor from you?"

"Sure Alexis. Anything!"

"Anything?"

"Sure!"

"Then..." She extended her left hand to him. An action that earned her a sudden look of confusion from the blue haired teen. "Could I borrow your PDA for just a moment?"

* * *

**:Hey buddy, I'm in a bit of a bind at the moment. Could you come over to the front of the girl's dorm? Thanks a ton!:**

This was the message that Jaden found himself looking at as he strapped his duel disk and deck box on to himself. He knew that something had happened to Syrus, considering this was the first time he ever obtained a message from the blue haired Slifer, so a trap was to be expected. Was Chazz the one to have Syrus captured? Despite the parrot wanting to get revenge on him, he didn't expect for the villain to stick around a Slifer to tail him, let alone kidnap him. So what happened then? Was this an attempt by a new enemy who wanted him out of the picture?

"The only way you'll find out is by going to the girl's dorm Jaden." Yubel appeared to his left, pointing a finger at the direction of the dorm. "I don't sense any strong duel energy, but that doesn't give you room to be careless Jaden. Find out who has your friend, deal with them, and get back before anyone unnecessary sees us. We don't need to have pointless rumors spread about us."

"Oh, but rumors about our skills as the Cursed Duelist are okay?"

"Why yes, because they build up our reputation. Being known as a pervert will not though."

"Admit it," Jaden smirked at the ghostly form of Yubel, "You just don't want any girls to be curious about me so I can be yours in every way possible." A jolt of pain made itself known in Jaden's throat, causing him to widen his eyes at the sight of Yubel glaring at him. He glanced down to see that it was her hand that held his throat, and winced when she clenched it harder.

"Do not joke about **my feelings** Jaden. You've been making a habit of talking about me and my feelings, and if you keep on doing that..." Yubel gave his throat a final, hard squeeze before letting him go with a huff. The sweet, welcoming air rushed down his throat without hesitation. A sensation that Jaden accepted with each painful breath. "...I will have to take away your ability to **speak** for some time so you can learn how to respect me."

"I'm sorry." Yubel disappeared, allowing Jaden to sigh and take a quick look at his mirror to inspect the damage. Though faint, he could see the indents of Yubel's fingers along his neck, and had a feeling that, if she really wanted to, she could have snapped his neck instead of simply squeezing it. Maybe he had picked too much fun at how Yubel felt about him and other people; however, he could not help himself from doing it when he knew it was true. He was socializing in ways that he never could back home, and, dare he say it? He enjoyed the feeling of a normal life and-

No...He should not be thinking of this right now. He had to save Syrus before anything happens to him, and the sooner he did it, the sooner he could go to sleep for the evening. He hurried out of the Blue Dorm as quickly as he could through the back of the building, keeping to the shadows of the trees along the path to stay hidden. It did not take him long to reach the Girl's Dorm, but what surprised him was how Syrus stood in front of the building next to Alexis. Not only did he not expect for her to be involved in this mess, but could not understand who would target the blonde Obelisk just to get at him. Was it an upperclassmen? As he got closer, Syrus and Alexis smiled at him, but something felt off to him about the situation.

"Jaden, you're here!" Syrus looked as if he wanted to run towards him, and even moved as if he was going to. Yet, at the last moment, he turned to Alexis, nodded, and held his ground by her side. That was something he did not expect from the Slifer.

"Yes, Jaden, you're here." Alexis waved her right hand at Syrus, signaling his position. "Syrus was on the Girl Dorm property, which would mean that any word and proof of this will mean expulsion from the academy." Syrus widened his eyes as he lowered his at the blonde. Just what was her game mentioning this to him? "I am the only person from the dorms who knows of what Syrus has done, and I'm quite willing to hand him over to you and not mention a word of this if you do one thing for me."

"Oh, and that is?" Alexis smirked at him and activated her duel disk. "You've got to be kidding me..."

"A duel with you on one condition." **That** word, _condition_, sparked his curiosity. What condition would be asked of him in order to save Syrus from expulsion? Would he have to work with half of his life points, a turn limit, summoning restrictions? What was this condition?

"I'll bite your bait Alexis. What is this condition?" She pointed at his duel disk and said something he did not expect to hear.

"I want you to duel me without any use of Yubel!"

_'She dies, now!'_ It took all of Jaden's will power to suppress the raging fury that was Yubel from lashing out at the blonde Obelisk. She rarely got this angry during the time they've known each other. Seeing her react in such a way not only shocked him, but frightened part of him that, deep down, he didn't understand was still there. Alexis waved her hand at Syrus again, who stretched his hands out towards him.

"If you accept the condition, then Syrus will hold on to Yubel and any other Yubel related cards, if they even exist, so I can see if you truly rely too much on that card for your deck or not!" As much as Jaden knew that it would piss off Yubel to accept the condition, he knew that he had to if he wanted Syrus to stay at the academy. He knew that Syrus would not have been at the Girl's Dorm on his own, meaning that someone set him up. A situation that Alexis was taking advantage of in order to make him duel in ways he had not done since he was a little kid.

_'Jaden, you don't have to do this!'_ Yubel appeared in front of him and pointed at Alexis. _'Release me into your soul and I can knock her and that blue idiot out for helping her, wipe their memories of this night, and this will never have to come up again. We can do this-'_

_'I don't want to hurt anyone Yubel. Syrus was the victim of a prank, anyone could see that, and Alexis-'_

_'That vicious harpie in fine silk!'_

_'Is taking advantage of his ordeal. I'll be fine Yubel!'_

_'Yes, but I will not be! This isn't about you Jaden, but us!'_ She hugged him, making him look down at his deck box as an odd sensation began to fill him. He yanked the deck box off his belt and slid his deck out of it. This made the sensation stop, as well as forced Yubel off him. _'Jaden! What are you-'_

_'You do_ NOT _get to make decisions for my body Yubel, remember!'_ Jaden plucked three cards out of his deck, slid them into the deck box, and added three cards into it. Yubel faded from his view, but he could still feel her presence in front of him. He could feel her hurting emotions of rejection and loss, but could not let her get away with trying to manipulate him to make her way come true. _'You do not get to do whatever you please with my body after the last time! If I deserve it, then I will take the punishments, you know that! But I will not allow you to use me like a puppet!'_ Jaden closed his deck box and threw it at Syrus so fast that the box his the teen square in his chest. The moment the box made contact with him though, he shivered and looked as if he would faint from the presence of Yubel in the deck box.

"I take it that you agree to my condition?"

"I'm going to show you that I am skilled enough to not need to win through the same technique each time! You're going to regret it though." Alexis and Syrus looked at him with a weird expression that felt foreign to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh Alexis..." Jaden chuckled as he activated his duel disk, allowing it to shuffle his deck and drew his hand. He saw the world in a darker tint than he was used to, and his mind felt heavier than before he rid himself of Yubel. Rid? Why would he use such a term for his friend? It didn't matter as he watched Alexis mimic his actions, but the foreign expression from before never left her face. This reminded him of what they were about to do, and grinned at her. "You'll simply have to see what I can do when I have freedom to do as I please."

"DUEL!"

Jaden: 4000 Alexis: 4000

"Ladies first." Alexis smirked, ridding herself of that expression as she drew a card. She moved her fingers to a card in the middle of her hand, and slapped a card on her field. "I summon **Etoile Cyber** in attack mode!" A woman with long, brown hair wearing a form fitting body suit with bandages wrapped around her arms. She had a red ribbon covering her right eyes, had a white skirt that opened at the front of her body, but what he noticed about the monster was that an specter of the same monster stood behind her. Did that mean something?

**Etoile Cyber** (Warrior Type/Earth/Level 4/ Atk-1200 Def-1600)

"You're baiting me with such a weak monster." Alexis showed him the back of a card and slid in face down on the field, making an unknown card appear on the field.

"If you think door number one was interesting, wait until you see what is behind door number two!"

"Lets see what will happen to you!" Jaden drew his card, grinning with amusement at his hand. Oh this duel would be interesting for sure! "I activate the spell card **Dark World Dealing**!" A tall, muscular demonic being appeared between the two duelist, forcing the top card to eject from their duel disk with a snap of its fingers. "We both draw a card, and discard a card from our hands. As you said, ladies first." Alexis sent a card, a spell card from the looks of it, and Jaden followed suit with a monster card. A particular favorite of his, if he had to be honest with himself. "Since I'm discarding **Archfiend Heiress**, her effect activates, allowing me to add an Archfiend card from my deck to my hand."

"So, instead of **Dark World Dealing** being a minus for the two of us-"

"It is a plus one for me!" As the demonic being disappeared, Jaden plucked a card from his hand and placed it on his duel disk. "Then I'll activate **E - Emergency Call**!" An explosion occurred from behind, shocking the two in front of him as he looked through his deck. "This allows me to add one Elemental Hero monster from my deck to my hand."

"Y-You play Elemental Heroes Jaden!" Ignoring Syrus' comment, Jaden added the card he picked to his hand, shuffled his deck, and continued with his turn. He now had several options to proceed with, but what should he do?

"I think I'll summon **Archfiend Interceptor**!" A quarterback football player wearing a giant skull on its chest, multiple arms extending from its shoulders, and had two gigantic hands appeared on Jaden's side of the field.

**Archfiend Interceptor** (Fiend Type/Dark/Level 4/ Atk-1400 Def-1600)

"With that, I'll have it attack your **Etoile Cyber**!"

"Actually, you will not be attacking my Cyber." That made Jaden pause from what he was originally going to say. His curiosity was sparked yet again.

"Oh? Do you have a **Negate Attack**, or how about a **Waboku**?"

"Nope," Alexis smirked as she flipped her face down, "You'll be attacking me!"

"Is that so?"

"I'm activating **Doble Passe**, which has your monster attack me directly!" The activation of that trap card made the Archfiend curl around **Etoile Cyber** and slammed into Alexis without mercy. The contact between the two forced her several feet back, making her eyes widen in sheer shock of what she _felt_. "I...I now lose life equal to your monster's attack-"

Jaden: 4000 Alexis: 2600

"-But my monster gets to automatically attack you directly right now!"

"Wait, you don't mean during your next turn?" Alexis, despite being shaken up, shook her head with a small smile.

"Nope, right now! Show him your moves **Etoile Cyber**!" **Etoile Cyber** performed an elaborate flip over **Archfiend Interceptor** and whipped a ribbon at Jaden's face. As it struck him, the **Archfiend Interceptor** grabbed **Etoile Cyber** by the ankle and threw her at Alexis, making her recoil. As Alexis straightened up, the life points changed, shocking her at the results.

Jaden: 2300 Alexis: 2100

"What happened to my life points!" Jaden laughed and pointed at her with a grin upon his face. Her reaction was priceless!

"Just like your monster obviously had an attack boost effect, considering how the math doesn't add up, my monster had an effect of his own!"

"An effect?"

"Yep! Whenever a monster my opponent controls declares an attack while my **Archfiend Interceptor** is in attack mode, it inflicts 500 points of damage to my opponent. So get burned for some damage whenever you attack me!" Alexis looked at her hand and life point meter in a state of confusion. As if analyzing the current state of how quickly her life points dropped, and looked down at her hand. _'She must have been so shocked that she can not even look at me. I should shake her out of her shock.'_ "With that, I'll bring you back to this duel by setting a card to my side of the field and end my turn."

"...Heh." Alexis slowly raised her head until their eyes met and, when that single moment occurred, she began to laugh.

And laugh...

And laugh! Her laughter was infuriating him to no end! What was so funny to her! She began to calm down and smirked at him.

"You can't notice it, can you?"

"What? What can't I notice?" Alexis drew her card and shuffled it into her hand. Anger began to bubble inside him, causing him to glare at her. Why would she not answer him!

"You'll notice soon enough! I'm going to activate **Polymerization**, fusing together my **Blade Skater** and a second copy of **Etoile Cyber** in my hand in order to bring out **Cyber Blader** to my side of the field! She won't be alone though, as I will have her accompanied by **Cyber Gymnast** in attack mode!" The fusion monster that appeared wore a form fitting purple and red jumpsuit with red shades, two red fins extending from her shoulder, and had long blue hair that reached her knees. He also noticed that she wore the same skirt thet **Etoile Cyber** had, as well as had a pair of ice skates on her feet, but the second monster she summoned, the **Cyber Gymnast**, was a muscular woman wearing a purple outfit with a white mask hiding her face, long blonde ponytail, and had two grey fins coming from her shoulders.

**Cyber Blader** (Warrior Type Fusion/Earth/Level 7/ Atk-2100 Def-800)

**Cyber Gymnast** (Warrior Type/Earth/Level 4/ Atk-800 Def-1800)

"This is going to be a world of hurt for you Jaden! I'm going to attack your Interceptor with my **Etoile Cyber**, allowing her attack to increase by five hundred, making her total attack seventeen hundred!"

"Don't forget that my **Archfiend Interceptor** will be dealing you five hundred points of damage for declaring an attack with your monster!" As his monster met its end, its helmet struck Alexis before disappearing, lowering their life points at the same time.

Jaden: 2000 Alexis: 1600

"And now my other monsters will-"

"Attack my Doomsday Tokens brought upon the field through the Quick-Play spell known as **Fires of Doomsday**!" As two black tokens made of fire appeared crouching in front of him, **Cyber Blader** glowed and became a bit larger in size.

Doomsday Tokens 2x (Fiend-Type/Dark/Level 1/ Atk-0 Def-0)

**Cyber Blader** (Atk-2100-4200)

"What is causing your **Cyber Blader's** attack to double?" Alexis smirked and pointed at him. It took him a moment, but he looked at the spell he had sent to the graveyard moments ago. "My monster count gives your **Cyber Blader** additional benefits doesn't it?"

"Yep!" Alexis said with a smirk. With the wave of a card, she showed it to him before sliding it into her duel disk. "And I'm making it harder for you by attaching the equip spell **Raregold Armor** to my **Cyber Blader**! This spell makes it so you can only attack the monster it is equipped to! So please, try and get over my **Cyber Blader** any way you can. Turn over!" Jaden stared at **Cyber Blader**, knowing that it gets effects based on the number of monsters he controlled, but what would have been its effect if he only controlled one monster, or even a full field of them?

"An interesting situation sits before me. It won't stop me from defeating you though. Draw!" With a new card in hand, he started his turn with a card that would put him in a negative position, but he needed to ensure that he kept either one monster on the field, or two to keep her **Cyber Blader** from gaining any further effects. But would it be worth it? Wasting his resources on one big push that might get negated by a hand trap? He was planning on saving this card for a bigger push, but maybe he had to play defensive until a better play came to him. "I'll activate **Double Summon**, allowing me to normal summon two monsters this turn instead of one, and I'll set two monsters before ending my turn."

"Well that is unlike you. Being a defensive player and all that." Alexis noted as she drew her card. She shook her head though, and gave him a nod. "It was a smart play though, since my **Cyber Blader's** effects are specified depending on the number of monsters on my opponent's side of the field, ranging from one to three monsters." So if he had only summoned one monster instead of two, then her **Cyber Blader** would have, most likely, obtained its ultimate effect for a turn if she decided to swing for damage. He was quite glad to have gone with his gut instead of pushing for one final turn considering how strong her **Cyber Blader** was. "So now, if you had only three monsters on your side of the field, **Cyber Blader** would have exchanged her doubled attack to make all monster, spell, and trap effects my opponent control negated."

**Cyber Blader** (Atk-4200-2100)

_'That is a strong effect, but it requires for her to kill one of my monsters to make that effect go live. The bigger question is which monster will she destroy on my side. My tokens, or one of my face downs?'_

"I'll put my **Cyber Gymnast** in defense mode (Def-1800) and have my **Cyber Blader** attack one of your tokens!" The fusion monster skated in a blur in front of one of the tokens, slicing it in half with her left leg before skating back to Alexis. Right as Jaden thought her turn was over, she surprised him with her next move. "I'll have my **Etoile Cyber** attack your face down to the right! With my **Cyber Blader's** effect negating anything your monsters could possibly do!" As her **Etoile Cyber** attacked the face down, it revealed a feminine warrior wearing black armor and had long blue hair. As it disappeared into pixels, Alexis looked up at him. "What monster was that?"

"That..." Jaden began with a small smile, "is **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist** (Def-1500), and you've activated her effect!"

"What!" Syrus shouted from the side, causing Jaden to recall that the blue haired teen was the reason he was dueling in the first place.

"That is impossible! Monsters, spells, and traps can not activate their effects while you have three monsters. How can your monster's effect activate!"

"Because it activates when it is sent to the graveyard by any means, meaning it occurs after combat, where the monster count is at two! Her effect allows me to add one HERO monster from my deck to my hand!" Alexis glared at him before sliding a card face down and smiled at him. Why was she smiling at him? He had not done a single thing deserving of a smile, yet she smiled at him!

"Have you noticed it Jaden?"

"What?"

"Look at your field Jaden. You have not summoned a single monster with a defensive purpose. Instead you've been forced into a corner, pulling off tactics you have yet to use before, and you're mood has changed as well. Where you were angry at me at the beginning of this match acting as if I was going to fell victim to your will, you've became carefree without that look of madness clouding your vision. Your coldness is gone from you, and in its place is what I believe is the REAL Jaden Yuki, student of the Obelisk Blue dorm!"

"S-Shut up!" Jaden shouted, placing his hand on top of his deck. He didn't want to hear her foolishness any longer! "Now are you done with your turn, or am I going to have to listen to your silly ideas about me being_ 'carefree without that look of madness'_ as you said?" Alexis, despite what he said, kept that ridiculous smile on and passed the turn over with a nod. Who was she to try and play psychologist on him? "Draw! First, I'll activate **Double Summon** yet again, allowing me to normal summon twice this turn! Also, since you control a monster, I can tribute summon a monster with only one tribute instead of two, and the monster I'm summoning is a representation of what makes me me!" A serious expression came upon him, allowing for him to tribute the face down monster, revealing it to be **Elemental HERO Clayman** to Alexis. As it disappeared, a sinister, spiked monster made itself known with three metal claws on its arms. Most of its body was covered in leather with spikes extending from the material, and its muscular figure showed that it was a strong monster. "Allow me to introduce to you **Evil HERO Malicious Edge**!"

**Evil HERO Malicious Edge** (Fiend Type/Earth/Level 7/ Atk-2600 Def-1800)

"An Evil Hero?" Syrus commented. A comment that Alexis seemed to whisper if Jaden read her lips correctly.

"I've never heard of Evil Heroes before, so how did you pick one up?" Jaden glanced down at his deck with a small smile. A small, but genuine smile that couldn't be hidden even if he tried.

"You have to understand something Alexis. It might be true that I play a particular strategy to winning my duels, but the cards I use are a representation of myself in ways that you simply can not comprehend. All of these cards are just as real as I am, and you're going to be in a world of hurt from the defeat you're going to get right here and now!"

"But how Jaden! If you normal summon something again, you will have three monsters, which will prevent you from activating any effects!"

"Trust me Syrus, and pay attention! I'll start things off by activating **Polymerization**, sending an Elemental HERO monster from my hand and the Doomsday token to the grave in order to bring to the field the true form of **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist**!" From the darkness of the swirl of energy came a tall, charcoal black warrior with a vicious claw for a right hand, had two sharp blades on its waist, and had what could have been either withered wings or a torn scarf extending coming from its neck.

"This is **Elemental HERO Escuridao**, and I'll activate the spell card known as **Fusion Sage**! This nifty spell card allows me to add a **Polymerization** from my deck to my hand before shuffling the deck!" The field became covered by a purple fog that only he could see through. He felt the anger bubbling inside him wanting to rip out and lash at Alexis. He knew that he wanted to be the best and to not be considered 'soft', yet he decided to do what felt natural to him. He knew what he would prefer to do at this point, and proceeded to grab the second to last card from his hand. "With this **Polymerization**, I will fuse this card, **Elemental HERO Avian** with my **Evil HERO Malicious Edge** in order to bring out **Elemental HERO Gaia** to the field!" A tall, heavily armored warrior appeared next to **Elemental HERO Escuriado** with its huge arms slamming on the ground.

**Elemental HERO Escuriado** (Warrior Type Fusion/Dark/Level 8/ Atk-2500 Def-2000)

**Elemental HERO Gaia** (Warrior Type Fusion/Earth/Level 6/ Atk-2200 Def-2600)

"Now two very important things happen at the same time."

"Let me remind you that, since you have two monsters, the attack of my **Cyber Blader** has doubled, making it forty two hundred!" As the monster in question became larger due to the attack boost, Jaden's newest hero, **Elemental HERO Gaia**, raised its arms from the ground with a weird purple and red aura wrapped around its fists. Suddenly, without any warning, **Cyber Blader** returned to its normal size.

"Believe it or not, that was exactly what I wanted to happen!"

"What!"

**Elemental HERO Gaia** (Atk 2200-4300)

"You see, when Gaia gets fusion summoned, I get to pick a monster on my opponent's side of the field and cut its attack in half. After the attack is deducted, Gaia gains that attack, bringing him to a mighty forty three hundred attack points!"

"F-Forty three hundred!" A black and blue aura took over **Elemental HERO Escuriado**, causing Alexis to look at the fusion monster and stare at it. "Why do I have the feeling that your othr fusion monster isn't a vanilla?"

"That is because Escuriado gains one hundred attack for every Elemental HERO monster in my graveyard Alexis. The last time I counted, there should be three HEROES in my graveyard, and their names are **Elemental HERO Shadow Mist**, **Elemental HERO Clayman**, and **Elemental HERO Avian**, granting her a total of three hundred extra attack!"

"Making her total attack twenty eight hundred!" Alexis exclaimed with a hand to her mouth. Jaden grinned, point at his life point meter before pointing at the** Raregold Armor** that was left alone the entire duel. With that card still active, the wall that Alexis set up would be torn down first, followed by the only monster she left in attack mode, **Etoile Cyber**, and with its twelve hundred attack, she would lose the duel. "I've lost..." A smile formed on her face as she placed her hand on top of her duel disk. It wasn't a sad smile like one would expect when someone understood their despair. No, her smile was a bright, joyful smile that showed no negativity in any way, shape, or form. "Give me your best shot Jaden Yuki!"

"With pleasure!" Jaden replied with a grin and a wave of his hand. "Since your **Cyber Blader's** attack is currently back at its original state, I'll have Escuriado attack it with its shimmering darkness slash!" The Elemental HERO of darkness appeared through a portal behind Alexis' monster, cutting it in half before it disappeared in a mist of pixels.

Alexis: 900

"With its destruction comes your defeat at the hand of **Elemental HERO Gaia**! Turn her **Etoile Cyber** to dust with your pressure punch!" **Elemental HERO Gaia** slammed its fists into the ground, causing for a geyser of compressed air to escape from the ground below its target. Its destruction was swift, and Alexis' life points dropped to zero, ending the duel. As the holograms disappeared and Jaden reshuffled his cards back into their proper spots, Syrus ran over to Jaden with a big, goofy smile as he waved Jaden's deck box in hand.

"Here you go Jay! I knew you could beat Alexis, the Obelisk Queen!" Jaden slowly took the deck box from Syrus. The unusual action must have caught his attention, as Syrus took a step back. Was he going to run for the Slifer dorms out of fear? "What did I do?"

"You called me _Jay _instead of Jaden."

"Hate to break this up fellas, but it is getting late." Jaden looked up to see Alexis, who gave him a nod. As she shut off her duel disk, she placed her left hand on her hip, and shook her head. What was with her mixed signals? "I don't understand you, Jaden Yuki, or what your deck truly is about. I will find out though, and I won't go easy on you the next time we duel!" Wait...Did she just say...

_'Jaden!'_ Yubel appeared beside him with a glare with her sights focused on the blonde who was entering the girl's dorm. _'She said that she took it easy on you! We can't stand for this!'_

_'Agreed! The next chance we get...'_

_**'We take her down!'**_ The two of them stated at the same time, causing the two of them to smile at one another. Any sense of maliciousness or anger from before disappeared from Yubel, Jaden suddenly noticed. Had she been able to see the duel through the deck box perhaps? Regardless, Jaden looked at the time, and saw that Syrus was frozen in place at what he might say to the blue haired teen.

"Syrus." This seemed to break the blue haired teen from his state of mind, and got him to speak.

"Yes?" Jaden shrugged his shoulders before pointing to the Obelisk Blue dorm.

"It is late, and we need to get some sleep before we attend class tomorrow. I'll see you then, okay?" With that, Jaden walked away knowing full well that he would not be getting much sleep tonight for one reason only.

He had a future duel to prepare for.

-Author Note-

Hello readers, followers, and reviewers! I've returned with the next chapter for The Cursed Duelist, and boy was it a difficult chapter to write up. Well, to be specific, the duel was the hardest thing. I had everything else up to the confrontation and condition typed up ages ago, but this duel sets plenty of things in place for future events. The cause and effect of Yubel being off and on his person, how Alexis sees Jaden and how she wants the world to see him, and other things I do not wish to point out at the moment.

I know that **Archfiend ****Interceptor** is a 5D-Era card, but there is a reason that Jaden has access to cards that he, if we go by the proper era-logic, should not have. The general reason could be applied to the fusions Jaden used as well, but there is a specific reason for his early use of them and that one particular Evil HERO. Also, before I forget, I wanted to point out two specific parts of this chapter's duel.

The first point is the effect of **Doble Passe**. The effect I used is the original anime effect, as opposed to the actual card effect. I could have stalled the duel long enough for its effect to take effect, but I wanted to keep a bit of nostalgia I felt when I first witnessed Jaden's reaction to the card and what it could do. The second point deals with **Cyber Blader**, whose effect is currently unknown with what can happen. What I mean by this is that Konami has not given an official ruling for its effect, yet Upper Deck did while they were in control of the TCG. While I normally follow all rulings, the rules of Upper Deck were rejected by Konami, making this card sort of left in a Twilight Zone of what should/should not happen. I decided to go with the idea that, since Shadow Mist would no longer be on the field when its effect goes off, her effect would activate since Blader would be on its second effect instead of the third. With that said, lets move over to some review responses, shall we?

Guest: The pairing is undecided at the moment, if we were to talk about romance. For now, lets keep the pairing of main friendship growth between Jaden and Yubel, but progress from there.

EternityDragon2610: The reason I would like to think that this story has little reviews is due to either A, my updating speed (which they have every right to be cautious), or B, that it isn't at a great enough length to gather interest. I never did understand why some characters revealed their entire skill set early on, but your comment on that inspired me to have Alexis reveal part of Cyber Blader's effect in a manner that kept the slowly calming Jaden on his toes.

Withengar-Void Walker: It's actually the whole "Yubel sticking for Jaden's childhood" that got me inspired to write this story. What made me take the route I did though was that there should have been some sort of effect that kept Jaden altered instead of the happy-go-lucky character I saw between other Jaden/Yubel stories. I do plan on finishing this tale one day, but I'll get this as far as I can no matter what!

So, until next time everyone, stay golden, and please leave a review, a follow, or a favorite on your way out!

Kazikamikaze24


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